By Neo Kolane
Maseru City Council (MCC) and ministry of local government failed to implement any new projects to maintain and rehabilitate roads in the 2022-2023 financial year despite receiving allocations from the Road Fund.
According to the Road Fund which is specifically dedicated for funding maintenance of road networks, in its latest annual report released this week, the two entities performed below par during this period in relation to funds allocated to them.
Road Fund deputy board chairperson Khotso Moleleki said the duo only managed to implement projects that were rolled over from the previous financial year.
He noted that MCC and the local government ministry were forced to carry over projects from 2021-2022 due to their inability to monitor and control programmes under their jurisdiction.
“They (ministry of local government and MCC) did not implement any new projects in 2022-2023 despite the allocations of funds to them,” Moleleki indicated.
He said this was a cause for concern to the Fund since such non-performance is directly related to deterioration of the country’s road network.
It also leads to increased vehicle operating costs and compromised safety on the roads, he added.
According to Moleleki, the Road Fund earmarked a total of M217,395,375 for its four agencies – Roads Directorate, MCC, ministry of local government, and the Road Safety Department during the 2022-2023 financial year.
The Roads Directorate spent M63.5 million from the M110 million it was given, while MCC utilised a paltry M1.533 million from its allocated M77 million.
The ministry of local government, home affairs and police spent M3.6 million of the M22.7 million set aside for it.
The Road Safety Department spent M3.9 million from the M7.3 million it was budgeted for, the report says.
Moleleki indicated that the agencies were only able to implement projects worth M72,605,971 during the period under review, hence the concern in relation to performance versus allocated funds.
But it was not all doom and gloom for the Road Fund.
On a positive note, Moleleki said the year under review saw an increase in revenue collection, as the Road Fund collected a total of M219,118,860. This shows an increase of M35,356,179 from M183,762,680 for the period up to March 31, 2022, a 19.24 percent hike.
In another development, Moleleki noted that the Road Maintenance Levy (RML) imposed on imported motor vehicle fuel remained the Fund’s largest revenue stream. It represented 47 percent of the total revenue collected, followed by the toll gate fees which contributed 32 percent, and Motor Vehicle Licenses at 18 percent.
RML is collected on behalf of the Road Fund by licensed oil companies operating in the country. The total revenue collected from this levy increased by 6.38 percent compared to last year, from M95 million in 2021-2022 to M102 million in the 2022-2023 financial year.
RML and toll gate fees both saw an adjustment of rates from the beginning of the year under review, resulting in a remarkable performance compared to the previous financial year.
The total revenue collected by Road Fund was M 219,118,860, M27,608,859 (14.42 percent) above the budgeted revenue of M191,510,000. This means the organisation surpassed its target.
The two main oil companies operating in the country, Engen Lesotho and Puma Energy, collectively contributed more that 87 percent of the revenue collected under RML.
The Road Fund annual report also states that there was growth on declaration by Tholo Energy, another oil company; it contributed 12.5 percent while the remaining 0.5 percent was contributed by smaller firms in the same sector.
RML is a levy imposed on imported motor vehicle fuel imported in accordance with the Fuel and Service Control Act 1983 (Act No. 23 of 1983), read together with Petrol or Distillate Fuel Levy Regulations 1985 (Legal Notice No. 102 of 1985).
The report further noted that during the period under review, revenue collection increased in all streams in comparison with the previous financial year. This was a result of increases in fees and levies of road maintenance and toll gate fees.
It added that temporary and special permits contributed two percent while the remaining one percent came from registration fees and fines on road traffic offences.
“The performance on revenue collection hit an overall increase of 19.4 percent on all streams including vehicle registration fees.
“The vehicle registration fees is a new stream previously collected by the department of traffic and transport, yet as per the law, it should have been collected by the Road Fund,” the report indicated.
According to the Toll Gates Act 1976 (Act No. 2 of 1976) toll gate means a bar placed across a road to prevent passage by a vehicle until tax has been paid. Currently toll gate fees are collected at designated border posts around the country.
The new tariffs as per Toll Gate Amendment Regulations 2022 were effected from April 1 2022, thus improving the performance of the stream despite the hiccup caused by COVID 19 effects prior to this period.
The Road Fund currently collects Cross Border Permits (F Permit), Short Term Permit and Special permits as well as motor vehicle annual license renewals through the department of traffic and transport under the ministry of public works and transport as per current legal instruments.
“There was a slight increase of 0.43 percent and 15.63 percent in permits and motor vehicle licenses respectively.
“Maseru and Leribe contributed 41 percent and 22 percent of revenue respectively to the Road Fund through registration fees,” the report states.
Motor vehicle licenses and permits are road user fees imposed on motorists for the use of national roads as per the Road Traffic Act of 1981 (Act No. 8 of 1981) and Road Transport Act 1981 (Act No. 6 of 1981), read together with related regulations.
Asked for comment yesterday, the ministry of local government public relations officer, ‘Makena Setho, said the ministry was aware of the report but they are still studying it.
“Therefore, I cannot give an official answer from the ministry as yet,” she said.
On the other hand, assistant MCC public relations officer, Khotso Makamo said he could not comment as he was not aware of the report.
