Road Tolls Return On Selected Roads; Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta Announces During 2022 Mid-Year Review

• The government has announced the return of road tolls on selected roads in the country
• The tolls have been introduced as part of a public private partnership agreement to improve some of Ghana's roads infrastructure
• The Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the tolling would be necessary to recoup money used in the construction of the roads

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has announced the return of road tolls on some selected roads in the country after a bold decision last year to scrap them.

While presenting the 2022 midyear budget review to Parliament on Monday, July 25, 2022, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta said the tolls will be re-introduced on selected roads under a Public Private Partnership deal.

"Under the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme for road infrastructure, the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Maintain (DBFOM) Accra – Tema Motorway and Extension PPP Project (27.7km) is at the procurement stage. Site works are expected to commence in September 2022," he told Parliament on Monday.

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The minister said the government has decided to procure the Accra-Tema Motorway and Extensions Project through Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) to raise maximum funds from the market.

He said the majority owner of the project would, however, be the GIIF on behalf of the government.

"The completed road will be tolled to recover the whole life cost of the completed infrastructure as well as pay lenders and provide a return for equity investors," he said.

The minister last year announced that all tolls on public roads and bridges had been abolished. One of the reasons the minister gave at the time for the cancellation of tolls was that the booths where they are collected always caused heavy traffic on Ghana's roads, which negatively impacted work and productivity.

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The public, especially experts, criticised the government for scrapping the tolls.

18-year-old Ghanaian boy builds car that moves from scraps

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that Ghanaian teenager, Obed Obeng Danso of the Community Development and Vocational Technical Institute (CONVOTECH) in Tarkwa in the Western Region, has built his first car.

The 18-year-old's vehicle runs on fuel with almost no challenge as it moves with no impediments on the road.

Danso told Ghanaweb on BizTech that he always dreamt of building a vehicle, and through determination, he finally made it a reality.

Source: YEN.com.gh