Some former toll collectors have appealed to the government to ensure their salary arrears are paid as an immediate step to reducing what they see as impending hardship on them.
Speaking to the Human Rights and Governance Centre via phone, a former Kumasi Metro President of the Ghana Federation of Disability, Prince Debrah, and the Central Regional Chairman of the Ghana Society of Physically Disabled, George Yaw Kyei, directly appealed to the government, through the Minister of Finance, to ensure their salary arrears are paid.
According to them, affected members have inundated them with calls following the government’s decision to abolish the collection of road and bridge tolls as presented by Ken Ofori-Atta in the delivery of the 2022 budget statement.
According to Mr Debrah and Mr Yaw Kyei, though neither the workers nor the Ghana Society of Physically Disabled was consulted prior to the directive, their immediate concern is the payment of salary arrears owed some of the workers. The arrears are between 3 and 5 months for many.
According to them, payment of the salary arrears will provide the needed cushioning for Persons with Disability (PWDs) who are going to be affected by this new policy, which has already taken effect with the directive of the Minister of Roads and Highways.
They emphasized that while this unexpected decision affects all category persons, the psychological and social effects are greater on PWDs who constituted a significant number of persons affected.
They further prayed government to honour its promise to redeploy these workers, and “this must be done promptly”.
According to the group, the government should also consider financial support to some of the affected PWDs for entrepreneurship as part of the strategy of improving the socio-economic status of affected persons, particularly, the PWDs.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
