The minority in parliament is requesting that Act 891, passed by the legislature to promote road safety, be put on hold by the Ghana Standards Authority.
All used automobiles imported into the nation must be accompanied by a certificate of compliance, according the Customs (Amendment) Act 2020, Section 61 of Act 891 amended.
No secondhand car without the certificate will be allowed into Ghana, according to the Ghana Standards Authority.
Speaking to the media in Parliament, however, Minority Spokesperson on Roads and Transport Kwame Agbodza issued a warning that rapid implementation of the Act will cost the government money.
Therefore, in order to prevent the Act from meeting the same demise as the luxury vehicle tax, which was ultimately abandoned, the Adaklu MP is requesting that the Ghana Standards Authority halt implementation and have additional consultations.
“If they have done their work, I wouldn’t be talking because I have met the used vehicle dealers, I have met members of the public who are complaining about this. As a Member of Parliament on the Roads and Transport Committee, I’m not aware of any public education on this. All we saw was a news item, we are not saying the law is on our books, we have passed many laws that on hindsight we realized that, that is not the right thing. I use the example of the Luxury Vehicle Tax, everybody thought it was going to bring some sanity on our roads but we had to come back and withdraw it. Withdrawal of the road toll, another mess, the implementation of E-Levy. So any time we caution, it is simply because we needed to take time to do these things.
Nobody is saying that vehicles that are totally damaged should be brought into the country. The implementation of this should be in such a way that the average Ghanaian or those who need this can participate in the engagements.”
Source: newsthemegh.com