Ayi Mensah toll-booths resume operations
The Ayi Mensah toll-booths on the Accra-Aburi road have resumed operations after almost three months of closure.
An amount in excess of GH¢282,000 in revenue was lost to the state following the halt in operations.
The booths became non-operational following an accident that occurred on April 18, 2015 that injured a toll collector and a hawker.
A Ford vehicle from the Aburi side of the road ran into one of the tollbooths. The driver of the vehicle later cited brake failure for the accident.
Operators of the booths, all temporary workers of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA), therefore stopped operations in view of the risk to their lives.
The GHA confirmed the incident and said that operations would resume by July 7, 2015 but operations resumed on June 30, 2015.
Current situation
When the Daily Graphic visited the area yesterday it observed that the new booths, unlike the plastic ones used in the past, were made of metal with internal ceilings and sliding glass windows from which the collectors issue tickets to drivers.
At the Aburi side of the road, two huge movable concrete structures had been placed on the concrete platform lying between the roads that house the booths.
However, the generating set that should provide electricity for the operators when power supply is disrupted in the night remains dysfunctional. Operators still use torch lights or light from their mobile phones in the night.
With the resumption of the toll collection, trading had bounced back in the area as traders had revived their businesses.
Security
Barrier duties by the police had been restricted to the night, however a policeman had been stationed close to the toll booths to check recalcitrant drivers who attempt to not pay tolls or needlessly challenge the tollbooth operators.
An operator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called for improvement in their conditions of service, which were described as poor.
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