Over-aged Cars Law Costs State 15bn cedis

The New Patriotic Party's mouthpiece, 'The NPPNews' says the NDC's law prohibiting the importation of ten years old plus vehicles have cost the state at least 15 billion cedis. "Targeted for repeal by the NPP government which has already signaled this intention in the 2001 budget, the law, Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (Management) (Amendment) Act 1998 was a typical example of a bad law."

It stated mainly that, "no motor-car or commercial vehicle of more than ten years old shall be imported into the country." Ships or carriers who violated this law were liable to a fine of 25 million cedis while the importer was also subject to a fine.

Currently parked at different places in the country are over 600 such vehicles, which according to information available to the paper could have fetched at least 12 billion cedis in duties and fines if the law were not in place.

The Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) currently overseeing operations of Ghana Publishing Corporation is demanding from CEPS fees totaling 300 million cedis for the use of GPC compound in Tema as parking grounds for the confiscated vehicles.

The most preposterous aspect of the process is the debt incurred by the state in destroying these vehicles. While it costs a minimum of 500,000 cedis to dismantle one confiscated vehicle and crush it, money realized from the sale of the crushed body to steel companies is a mere 85,000 cedis, thus a whooping 415,000 cedis is lost on each vehicle through that alone.

The NPP has since the enactment of the law, criticized it as unrealistic, and promised to repeal it.