From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ONICCIMA) has appealed to the Federal Government to defer the re-introduction of toll gates in some selected highways to 2024 after some pressing issues might have been taken care.
ONICCIMA President, Chris Ukachukwu, in a statement, yesterday, said news of the planned reintroduction of toll gates on the roads has spread palpable fear among the commuting public given the realisation that the result is another hike in transport fares, which in turn will worsen the disposable income of the citizenry.
While noting that government has the right to raise taxes and revenues through diverse legal sources to facilitate its ability to build infrastructure and generally improve on social service delivery, he said ONICCIMA believes there are many pertinent issues surrounding the return of tolling on the expressways and bridges that require immediate consideration before the implementation of that policy.
He said in order to achieve the desire of the Federal Government, the implementation of this policy should be delayed till about 2024 so that government will possibly complete most of the critical road projects, especially in the South East; like Enugu-Onitsha expressway, the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, the Onitsha-Owerri highway and the 2nd Niger Bridge, which he noted are all in either unimaginable state of disrepair or are still under construction.
The chamber boss also appealed to the government to consider a 75 percent reduction in the planned toll fees based on current harsh economic realities. The reduction, it said, will make it affordable for the commuting masses, reduce negative impact and also guarantee sustainability.
“To start with, it is common knowledge that the toll gates are usually outsourced to contractors who pay agreed amounts in advance to government. In the previous era of tolling, citizens severally complained of the difficulty to trace the impact of these monies so collected on our road infrastructure.
“The dilapidation continued even with all the funds collected. Is there any guarantee that this reintroduction will be impactful?
“Also, the issue of diverse toll collection by touts and agents of various state and local governments along federal highways is causing untold hardships on commuters. With the re-introduction of the toll gates, the Federal Government should first do all within its powers to dislodge these touts and state and local government agents from their collections as this amount to multiple taxation.
“In addition, the government must ensure the various contractors who shall operate the tolls work under strictly laid down guidelines and standardised procedures that are applicable across board. This will go a long way in checkmating corruption, intimidation and acrimony usually witnessed at toll gates.
“Another area of urgent importance is that of security for the toll locations. The government must plan to recruit or deploy more personnel to man the toll points so that they do not become soft targets, considering the current spate of insecurity. The peculiarities of the various locations should also be taken into consideration,” he said.