Bad road network affecting revenue collection

Mr Steven Borbor, Revenue Officer, Ghana Revenue Authority, Customs Division, in charge of the Kulungu Customs Post has said the deteriorating nature of the road network in the area was posing a threat to revenue generation in the region.

Mr Borbor said the road network that served Ghana and Togo was becoming impassable to travellers and businessmen who often resort to unapproved and unmonitored routes, causing revenue loss to the country.

He said this when Alhaji Limuna Mohammed -Muniru , the new Upper East Regional Minister, interacted with security personnel operating around the borders as part of his working visit to ascertain what was happening in the region. Mr Borbor said his outfit in partnership with other security personnel were working around the clock to ensure sanity around the borders.

He said the continued smuggling of fuel especially petrol to neighboring Togo and Burkina Faso was still a major headache for the personnel. He attributed this to the increased numbers of fuel filling stations in the area and even close to the border area and said that fuel consumption patterns in the area was ‘alarming’.

He said five fuel stations within a distance of 11 kilometres were already operating around the borders and any additional ones would be too much for the area as the existing ones were already posed a lot of burden on CEPS.

He complained of encroachment in the area resulting in other nefarious activities of smugglers and called for measures to relocate those settling and also transacting business around the border areas.

Mr Simon Ametsitsi, of Ghana Immigration Service, advised that the use of ‘endorsable’ documents was required for profiling travellers instead of the use of Identity cards (IDs).

The Minister congratulated the personnel and asked them to put in more effort whilst a study of the situation was needed to address their challenges.