Business
Don’t bring monopoly in towing services – Gov’t advised
An Economic Advisor at the Office of the Vice President has charged government and agencies considering the implementation of the controversial mandatory towing levy not to monopolize the programme.
Dr Gideon Boako said: “We should think of how we can diversify the contract. We do not have to bring in the element of monopoly because if it is given to one person, the cost will be huge, but we can bring in more companies who will be in charge of other regions”.
The Economic Advisor made the comment while contributing to discussions on TV3 on the approval by the Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament on the implementation of the towing levy to be imposed on vehicle owners.
The law, which was to have taken effect July 1, 2017, was suspended to enable the Transport Ministry hold stakeholder engagements, following the massive public disapproval it received. As part of the law, vehicle owners and motorcyclists will pay compulsory annual fees, tied to the acquisition of road worthy certificate, to cater for towing services.
Fees per year for both commercial and non-commercial vehicles, depending on tonnage, range from GHȻ20 to GHȻ 200.
The National Road Safety Commission (NRSC) awarded the contract to the Road Safety Management Limited (RSML), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group owned by businessman Joseph Siaw Agyapong.
The Chairman of Roads and Transport Committee, Samuel Aye Paye, told the media on Tuesday that an abrogation of the contract would have led to the payment of judgement debt, hence the decision to okay it.
But Dr. Boako said “we have to make do with it but we have to make some key changes on the programme, that is, I have heard the contract was going to be given to one company but is the company going to have the capacity to provide the service to ensure that the entire nation is covered?”
“These things cover security so if you give it to one company and there is a problem, the whole nation will be in trouble, but if we diversify it, it will help sustained the programme,” he suggested. “By intent, they mean well.
They tried not to give the whole money to one entity because the NRSC, police, Transport Ministry and private person will all benefit but I don’t want the monopoly aspect as it is now.
“I don’t think anybody who is ready to go to work will park his car in the middle of the road and say he wants the towing service people to come and pick because he has paid. You do that at your own risk.”
Source: 3news
