Road Tow Brouhaha: Awarding of contract was based on capacity - Committee on Transport

Chairman of the Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament, Hon. Samuel A. Paye says the decision to award the management of the road towing levy to Road Safety Management Services (RSML), was based on capacity.

The chairman said the award of the contract to a subsidiary of the Jospong Group owned by Businessman Joseph Siaw Agyapong, was not monopolized as suggested by some individuals. Some individuals have called for diversification of the contract to prevent monopoly. However, the chairman Hon. Paye says there was no monopoly.

According to him, RSML originally sub-contracted 15 other towing companies but per the recommendation of the Committee, they were advised to sub-contract to 15 more companies to bring the total number of companies to 30.

‘’Apart from the towing trucks imported by the company, there is no truck that can tow 32-tonne articulated truck. We were looking at which of the companies can provide us with towing trucks…In the contract, the service provider is supposed to engage 15 sub-contractors and zone the country, improve their capacity and change their old trucks that they use for towing.’’

The service provider he added will help the sub-contractors to purchase the towing equipment on hire purchase. On the issue of towing fee, he said, the committee also recommended that it should not be reviewed upwards for the next two years to compensate for the reduction the Ghana Private Road and Transport Union (GPRTU) asked for.

On the issue of inadequate publicity, he said the committee recommended that the Ministry and National Road Safety Commission prepare a detailed education program and implement same before the implementation of the levy.

The Roads and Transport Committee of Parliament has given its backing for the implementation of the controversial mandatory towing levy to be imposed on vehicle owners.

The law which was to take effect July 1, 2017, was suspended to enable the Transport Ministry to hold stakeholders engagements, following the massive public disapproval it received. Per the contract, the Road Safety Management Company Limited and its allied service providers will enjoy 85% of the charges while the DVLA and Police Service share 5% each.

Ministry of Finance, as well as NRSC, will also be allocated 2.5% each from the proceeds. The operator will cede 5% of its share of 85% of the earnings to the Ambulance Service and National Health Insurance Authority while another 2.5 percent will be paid to the National Health Insurance Authority to be used for the treatment of accident victims.