Bolgatanga, May 19, GNA - Ghana and Burkina Faso have been identified as countries with the highest number of customs barriers and police check points on their roads. Ghana leads with 34 police check points and 11 customs check points on the Tema/Paga road and at each control point, bribes and undue delays of drivers make business cumbersome. Mr Niels Rasmussen, Transport Director of Borderless, an organization that aims at removing trade barriers in the West Africa Trade Hub, made this known at a Road Transport governance workshop.

It was organized for stakeholders in the transport sector on Thursday, in Bolgatanga, on the theme, 93challenges facing transport and trade on Tema=96Paga corridor". The workshop, organized by USAID and the Ghana Shippers Authority, sought to create awareness on the many heckles truck drivers face and to share information gathered on the day-to-day experience of long distance drivers. He said trucks travelling from Tema to Burkina Faso were more harassed than trucks moving in other directions and that these delays, bribes and cost of travel time translated into higher prices of goods for consumers. Mr Rasmussen said such harassments forfeited the purpose of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme whose ultimate purpose is to boost economic growth and poverty reduction.

Mr Rasmussen said a report based on surveys done from October to December 2010 showed that bribes on the road increased by almost 13 per cent, jumping from 64 dollars to 72 dollars and delays doubled from 12 minutes per 100km to 20 minutes per 100km. He said though Ghana had the lowest level of bribes, the number of checkpoints remained problematic. Mr Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister, said Said bribery and delays had repercussions on investors and consumers and appealed to officials at checkpoints to refrain from such acts.