The Minister for Roads and Highways, Kwame Governs Agbodza, has announced that the government will introduce new technology-driven measures to address illegal activities associated with axle load control stations across the country.
He said the new system will help make axle load operations more transparent and efficient, while discouraging individuals who engage in unlawful practices at the stations.
Speaking during an inspection of road projects being executed under the Big Push Programme in the Volta Region, the Minister expressed concern that some axle load stations have been compromised by politically affiliated individuals who engage in overloading-related activities and extortion of money from transport operators.
Mr. Agbodza said the introduction of technology will help reduce human interference, improve enforcement of axle load regulations, and protect road infrastructure from premature deterioration caused by overloaded vehicles.
“The overloading is evil, and extortion of money from overloaded drivers is also evil. But we are coming with a technology which will make standing at an axle load station useless. We want to remove any temptation, because the axle load situation across the country is nothing to write home about.
“And the president [John Dramani Mahama] made a categorical statement. We will not invest billions to build roads and allow a few unpatriotic haulage vehicle drivers to destroy all of them in three years.
“We are not going to allow them to do that. So we have a solution coming. To make it unattractive to anybody to think that you can stand there and do what they are doing currently,” he said.
