Former toll booth workers demand a definite date for reassignment
Toll collectors who were laid off from their duty are demanding assurance from the government on specific dates when they will be reassigned.
Their demands come on the back of recent claims by their employer, Route Management Limited, that reassignment options had been given to the government.
The former-toll collectors stated that, without definite timelines on when they will be reassigned, they cannot trust the words of the government or their employers.
Edward Duncan, secretary of the Ghana Toll Booth Workers, says he does not hope that their reassignment will come anytime soon given the fact that nothing has been done for them nearly seven months after the announcement of the closure of toll booths was made.
“This is not the first time that they’ve said something like this. This started when the budget was read. We expected that the reassignment will come with the approval of the budget, but if since January there’s not been any reassurance, it doesn’t give us hope that what they are saying will be done. There is no timetable, so it means we should just wait. We want the government to be specific and tell us when we’ll be reassigned because it looks like the whole closure of toll booths was not properly planned,” he said.
Earlier this month, some former toll collectors besieged the Roads and Highways Ministry to demand their reassignment.
But Isaac Adjei Kwakye, Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Ministry said no definite date can be given for when the reassignment will be done, but said the ministry is working to ensure it happens soon.
“We will reassign them through the company [that employed them]. As and when the processes are completed, they will be reassigned. It is not as if we have abandoned them. As soon as possible, they will be reassigned. This reassignment is a process and not an event. When it is done, we will get them reassigned through the company, and they will be called,” he said.
