Drivers who ply Motorway can buy stickers

DRIVERS who often use the Accra-Tema motorway can register to purchase stickers for a specific period of time instead of paying for road tolls on a daily basis.
That is expected to ease congestion at the toll booths on the motorway since vehicles with such stickers could quickly pass through without spending time at the booths.
The exercise, which is currently on a pilot basis, is supposed to take place near the automated toll booth on the Tema Motorway.
This came out during question-and-answer time on Tuesday when the Minister for Roads and Highways, Mr Joe Gidisu, had his turn at the weekly meet-the-press series organised by the Ministry of Information in Accra.
Present at the programme were the outgoing Minister for Information, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, one of her deputies, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, and some top officials of the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
Mr Gidisu said there were plans to provide special package for commercial drivers who plied the tolled roads on a regular basis in order to enjoy some rebate.
He held a stakeholders meeting to that effect on Wednesday to enable transport owners and drivers to deliberate on how best to handle the situation.
He said currently, there was a total of 29 toll booths throughout the country, adding that there were also plans to increase the number in order to cover all major roads in the country.
Mr Gidisu said that had become necessary because looking at the available toll booths, one could see that they were not evenly distributed. He went on to cite the Accra-Kumasi road where, in spite of its long distance, had only one collection point where similar roads had more such points.
The Roads Minister said his outfit was aware of some heavy duty vehicle drivers who tried to evade payment of the tolls by using unapproved routes. He cautioned them to desist from such practice, else the police would deal with them.
He said in addition to dodging the toll booths, these drivers tended to destroy the roads since they avoided the axle load weighing exercises which checked the right weight being carried on roads to protect their lifespan.
He, therefore, pleaded with Ghanaians to support the government in its decision to increase the road and bridge tolls, and gave an assurance that every pesewa collected at the collection points would be put to good use.
“There will be daily monitoring of activities at the toll booths, so there is no way that anybody will have the chance of misusing the funds”, Mr Gidisu stressed.
On the question of the progress on the Achimota-Ofankor road, the minister said some significant payment had been made to the contractors, pointing out that the road would be completed by the end of the year.