Gov’t to implement e-tolling system on major interchanges – Roads Minister
The government is set to roll out an electronic tolling system on major interchanges and road corridors across the country, Roads and Highways Minister Governs Kwame Agbodza has announced.
According to him, the government has already identified 66 potential collection points as part of efforts to generate a “sustainable revenue stream” for road maintenance and development.
In an interview on Channel One TV on Tuesday, the Roads Minister highlighted the substantial costs involved in constructing modern interchanges and added that tolling them is a fair approach to revenue generation compared to previous methods.
“Interchanges are quite expensive. There are interchanges in Ghana that are $100 million, $200 million and things like that. And like I said on record, we spent a vast majority of our resources on interventions in the Greater Accra region and Ashanti region,” he stated. “Take for instance how much we spent on the Pokuase interchange. That could do a lot of feeder roads in many district and constituencies, but we spent it on that, on one interchange.”
Hon. Agbodza further argued that tolling what he describes as “high-value infrastructure,” creates a more balanced system
“Look at going to East Legon, we spent money to build the Flowerpot tunnel and then now we built the Flowerpot flyover, all that is an investment. So, if you are tolling Accra-Tema motorway without tolling the interchanges, you would have created a situation where some people unless they use it, they may never pay,” he explained. “So, it is a fairer way of generating resources. It is not a punishment for anybody.”
He clarified that while 66 potential tolling locations have been identified across the country, implementation will be gradual, adding that some sites are currently under construction.
“We have identified about 66 points that are potential tolling places but some of the 66 include works-in-progress points. So, for instance, there used to be a toll on the Accra-Tema motorway but currently it’s under construction. Nobody is going to put a toll on that motorway until it is completed
“There are a number of interchanges and road corridors that we are doing that we will only put the gantries there when the project is completed. So yes, 66 in total for now but that can be scaled up. As we said anytime we make the investment that improves the road then we can weigh the tolling potential there,” Agbodza added.
Addressing concerns about the potential impact on commercial transportation, the minister explained that government has designed a different but effective payment system for commercial vehicles in order to ease the burden on transport operators.
“We are not coming to toll the rough road or the untarred road leading to anybody’s village because that would be unfair and we are not coming to make every trotro driver pay 50 times when they go through 50 cameras
“Public transport or commercial vehicles will have a different regime of paying that is potentially a one-off payment for 24 hours. Emergency vehicles wouldn’t have to pay at a spot or wouldn’t have to pay and then it is only other vehicles that would have to pay whenever they go through this a number of times,” he clarified.
Hon. Agbodza expressed that although the public has always remained skeptical about how toll revenue is managed, the current NDC administration is committed to an “unprecedented transparency in toll collection and allocation.”
“The concern of the public has always been what you do with the money. In the past what you were collecting, the road was still bad. So, we are offering that even the accruals, we will be very transparent. Whatever we collect in a quarter or anything, will be made known to the public and what we apply the money to, because that is very important to carry the trust of the people along,” he assured.
“We are not trying to collect money for road toll and use it to extend water to people. Whilst water supply is also important, when you collect money that want to fix road, use it to fix the road so that people know that this is what I paid for. I think that is what we want,” he added.
The minister disclosed that government has already begun stakeholder consultations, following successful engagements with transport unions and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the implementation strategy.
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