Chief Executive Officer of Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Kofi Agyepong, has said toll booth workers who were laid off following government's decision to abolish all road tolls would be reassigned as YEA district disability officers.
“By the end of this year, all former toll booth workers who were laid off after the government abolished all tolls on public roads and bridges will be re-assigned as YEA district disability officers,” he said.
Kofi Agyepong made this known at the launch of the Business and Employment Assistance Programme (BEAP) on Monday, December 11, 2023.
At least, 800 toll booth workers were rendered jobless after the government abolished the toll system in November 2022.
It would be recalled that toll collection in Ghana stopped on November 18, 2021, after Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, announced plans to abolish tolls in the 2022 budget.
Following the Finance Minister's announcement, the Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwaku Amoako Atta, directed the halt of toll collection across the country, effective from midnight on November 18, 2021.
By the next morning, toll collection centers were empty, and personnel were no longer collecting tolls. While drivers welcomed the directive, traders expressed concern about the impact on their livelihoods.
However, this decision faced opposition from the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, who deemed it unlawful, stating that the ban on toll collection was a policy proposal in the budget and should not have been implemented immediately.
Meanwhile, the former tollbooth workers claimed they are yet to be paid the outstanding salaries and given alternate employment as promised by government.
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Some toll workers on demonstration