Bolgatanga, July 13, GNA - Petroleum tax collection by Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) in the Upper East Region fell short by 81.82 per cent during the first quarter of the year. It collected 387,351 Ghana cedis out of its target of 473,400 Ghana cedis.

In the area of general custom duty collection, it fell short by 17.44 per cent. CEPS collected 688,536 Ghana cedis out of its target of 834,020 Ghana cedis during the first three months of the year. Mr. Ganiyou Busare, Acting Sector Commander, attributed the fall to smuggling of fuel products from the region to neighbouring Togo and Burkina Faso and the Bawku conflict. Mr. Busare said this when the Regional minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo visited the CEPS office in Bolgatanga to interact with the personnel. He said other factors that affected collection of custom duties were smuggling of fertilizer and the farming season as many people work on their farms. Mr Busare said the region made excess collection by 62,601 Ghana cedis, of its target of 4,140,000 Ghana cedis last year. The target for this year is 3,380,000 Ghana cedis. Mr. Woyongo said the country needed to step up its internally generated income to be able to meet many obligations. The minister urged the staff of Audit Service that would soon be auditing the Municipal and District assemblies to do their work properly.

Mr Woyongo also visited the Architectural Engineering Services Company where he told them to ensure government contracts were well supervised and completed on time. 13 July 09