Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhassan Suhuyini has said that the government is seeking to reintroduce road tolls this year.
He made the point that the reintroduction was delayed due to the competitive bidding process for the contract.
“Our commitment is to reintroduce it this year. Competitive bidding is what has led to the delay,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday March 28.
The reintroduction was a promise made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) ahead of the 2024 general elections.
In other matters, Suhuyini told the Fourth Estate that the government is open for public scrutiny.
However, he said, the government should be treated with kindness and be acknowledged for the work that is being done.
He said all we seek from them is fairness and open-minded conversation. we are open for scrutiny. Mahama is committed to seeing these roads completed.”
Alhassan Suihuyini further said he did not see any scandal in the publication by the Fourth Estate on the Big Push project.
He said that when the Fourth Estate advertised that there was a scandal, he was actually waiting to read that scandal. But after reading and watching the documentary, he said nothing about the scandal being established.
“I was eagerly awaiting what the scandal was with the Big Push. They advertised a scandal, and we were waiting for the scandal. They wrote to us and requested information regarding these contracts, and we promptly responded without any qualms as the laws require. Even before that we started uploading this information on our website.
“We were anticipating. My first disappointment was that the publication suggested that if you criticised something in the past and you were seen to be doing it, then in itself it is scandalous. At best, you can say it is a double standard or hypocrisy, but that is not a scandal.
“What we said about sole sourcing, we still stand by it. We said it was wantonly being used and leading to inflated contracts, which affects the quality of work. We still stand by that,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, March 28.
