Vice President of IMANI-Ghana, Kofi Bentil suspects, the mandatory fee for towing services by the National Road safety Commission is an attempt to swindle the public.
According to him, there are existing laws that mandate Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to provide towing services in their respective jurisdictions.
The Road Safety Commission has announced effective July 1, 2017, vehicle owners and motorcyclists will pay compulsory annual fees, tied to the acquisition of road worthy certificate, to cater for towing services.
The announcement has generated a chorus of disapproval from the public.
Chief Policy Analyst at the Ghana Institute of Public Policy Options (GIPPO) Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby on Thursday, called on the president, Nana Akufo-Addo to immediately halt the implementation of the policy.
Commenting on the issue on the super Morning show on Joy FM Friday, June 16, 2017, Mr. Kofi Bentil who is also Executive Director at Bentil Consulting says the policy is an attempt to extort money from motorists.
“There is no proof paying this money which constitutes insurance will make these people do the actual work of towing”.
The Road Safety Management Limited (RSML), a private company incorporated in 2011 which together with four other unnamed allied companies, have been awarded the contract to tow disabled vehicles from the roads across the country.
Information available to Joy News indicates the RSML and its allied companies will be allocated 85 percent of the funds, NRSC 5 percent, Ghana Police Service 5 percent, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) 2.5 percent while the remaining 2.5 percent will go to the Ministry of Finance.
However, Kofi Bentil says: “There is a lot evidence that some of the people involved in this particular scam have a long track record of collecting money for doing things that they haven’t done.”
This is not about people who want to do the work…the National Road safety Commission does not want to do any work; they want to sit back and distribute the money.
The contract is for a period of 20 years but renewable after every two years. The funds collected are to be lodged into a special Towing Service Account.
Questions relating to whether the payments will be tied to number of vehicles towed and how the activities of the towing services are going to be monitored are yet to answered.
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