Tollbooths are not market centres – Majority Leader tells hawkers ‘angry’ over the removal
Majority Leader and Suame Member of Parliament (MP), Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, has reacted to concerns raised by hawkers at the various tollbooths nationwide.
Traders along these stretches have lamented they will deeply be affected by the directive from the Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwasi Amoako-Attah, to close down all tollbooths following the presentation of the 2022 budget on Wednesday, November 17.
According to the hawkers, these tollbooths served as vantage places where they have made their incomes over the years.
But reacting to the numerous concerns, the Leader, who doubles as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said that the tollbooths needed to be closed since they were negatively affecting economic growth.
“This year, the government revenue from all tollbooths in the country was about Gh¢78 million and we use about Gh¢50 million to maintain and improve the spots around the tolls,” he said on Accra-based Okay FM.
He added: “Apart from maintenance, we have contracted people to clean the place two to three times daily to prevent visitors from outside categorising us as dirty. So what the traders are saying that the government has rendered them jobless doesn’t make sense because the tollbooths are not constructed to serve as market centres.”
He, however, suggested that the “government needs to develop more markets to inhabit all these traders who are in this dilemma.”
Source: adomonline
