The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GhCCI), Mr. Emmanuel Cherry, has lauded the Roads and Highways Minister-designate, Honourable Kwesi Amoako-Attah’s plan to increase the road tolls when given the nod after being approved to become the Roads Minister.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry (GhCCI), Mr. Emmanuel Cherry
Speaking in an interview on an Accra based radio station, he averred that, increasing the tolls will help in the development of roads and other sectors of the country.
“I agree with the Minister-designate for road tolls to be increased. It’s not because of contractors but because of road demands. To me, we already have on our table a proposal should the minister be passed. We’re in 200% agreement with him.
“We are competing on the same small roads and it brings heavy traffic. So, as a leader you should think outside the box and we agree with him. If you want the country to open and develop as we envisage in developed countries, the road tolls should be increased a bit upwards. We are yet to determine how much people should pay but I’m sure it will be more than 100% increment.”
Emmanuel Cherry
Mr Kwasi Amoako-Attah during his vetting yesterday February 17, 2021, said he will increase road tolls if given the nod.
“If I am given the approval, it’s one of the things I am going to do immediately. There is going to be a proposal to increase the toll rate, and I am going to bring to this house for support.”
Mr. Amoako Attah
However, Mr. Cherry expressed his displeasure with the Minister-designate for Roads and Highways comments that, local contractors lack the capacity to undertake the construction of interchanges in the country.
The Chief Executive of the GhCCI was of the view that, it was not so and as such the Minister should be ashamed of his comments.
“In our last press release, we stated categorically that if the Minister is given the nod, we should look at local expertise before looking elsewhere. So, if a Minister appears before a vetting committee and says that the local contractors do not have the capacity to construct some interchanges, it’s a shame to him.”
Emmanuel Cherry
Mr Amoako-Attah claimed that, the government signed a contract with the Portuguese conglomerate Mota-Engil to construct some interchanges because it has the ability to carry out the projects, unlike Ghanaian construction firms.
He then revealed that, his outfit will make sure that in a matter of a years’ times local contractors will be able to access state-of-the-art equipment from the government, in support of their work, and at very reasonable interests.
This assurance, he said was also as a way of improving the capacities of local contractors. He made this known in response to a question on what the government has been doing to support local contractors to be competitive, after he claimed they lacked the capacity.
