The Sunday Mail
LAST week more than 31 out of 34 road funds – the equivalent of the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara)- from across Africa gathered in the resort town of Victoria Falls for the 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of ARMFA (African Road Maintenance Funds Association).
The association was formed in 2006 to develop a network for the exchange of information and experiences on the practices of financing road maintenance in Africa and the operation of the funds themselves.
It is also meant to encourage the promotion and strengthening of ties between road maintenance funds on the continent. But there is urgent need to develop the local road infrastructure that is in bad shape, and stakeholders continue to press Government for answers. Our Business Editor Darlington Musarurwa (DM) last week spoke to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Dr Obert Mpofu (OM), on some of the contentious issues in the sector.
DM: Local authorities from across the country seem not to be relenting as they try to get their hands on funds that are generated from vehicle licensing. They believe they can handle the resources better. So, is Government going to give in?
OM: No, it’s not a question of giving in or relenting; it’s a question of what is agreed or what is regulated. So, the current situation is that the collections have to be done by those that are regulated to do so, but if local authorities have got any queries about that, they should engage Zinara or engage the Ministry (of Transport and Infrastructure Development) in the normal manner than just continue complaining about something that is being done legally.
DM: But they seem to be complaining about the amounts that are then allocated by Zinara. In their view, the funds are insufficient to maintain and rehabilitate roads within their jurisdictions. What is the formula used to disburse these funds?
OM: But the assumption is that Zinara is getting a lot of money: No, they are not. I think we would get more money if we introduced urban tolling, which we are not. Currently, we are using tolling on our major roads and outside major cities, and we are receiving most complaints from urban operators and motorists as opposed to those that are actually paying the tolls. So, we have been engaging the urban leadership like the councils about introducing tolling in urban centres. They, in a way, have agreed to that arrangement. Until such has been done it will be difficult to get what they expect to get from Zinara. So, we are saying, let’s agree on the methodology that will realise more incomes, more inflows into Zinara that will also be shared with the urban councils. We will get more money if we introduce urban tolling. If you look at South Africa, most of their money is coming from urban tolling; they call it e-tolling.
DM: Currently, what is Government’s position on urban tolling?
OM: We have articulated our position that we would like to introduce that, but there are actually procedures that have to be followed to do those. The procedures include consultations with urban councils themselves and also the inter-ministerial consultation that will result in a final position on that. That’s the most sustainable way of raising funds for roads, and it will also decongest the cities because (there are) a lot of people who go into the cities who have nothing to do there, but once they pay a bit to use those roads in town or around town they may prefer to use public transport, leaving their vehicles outside the central business district. You know, Harare has become a city without parking, a city which is so congested but those people are not contributing towards the development of the Harare road network; the same as Bulawayo and the same as any other city. And those are the people that we are saying should be part of this initiative that will bring more money for the development of their cities. But this is a process that we are actually embarking on.
DM: Many are agreed that there is tremendous work that has been done on the Plumtree-Harare-Mutare highway, but there still remain questions of what is actually happening on the Beitbridge-Harare- Chirundu highway?
OM: No, we have been taken to court by certain individuals who feel they should actually be given that contract. Until such a matter is finalised it will be difficult for us although we have been directed by the Head of State (President Robert Mugabe) to start working on the road. We are now putting our resources together to actualise the implementation of that road.
DM: Are you saying you will continue with the project notwithstanding the finalisation of the court case?
OM: No, that will continue, but we feel this is derailing development of that road. It is the major link to the north and south; it is the major link to one of the busiest roads in the country, but it has been stalled by things that really are not taking us anywhere. We feel a final solution will be found soon to deal with that.
The legal case has really been on the basis of contracting companies, but if we do it on our own, it doesn’t apply. As I said, we are putting our resources together to prepare the consummation of that road.
DM: Are there investors who are prepared to be part of that project?
OM: We have hundreds of investors that are keen to develop that road and other trunk roads but also there are processes that have to be followed.
DM: But are we receiving any resources from regional blocs such as SADC (Southern African Development Community and Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), particularly for the rehabilitation of some stretches along the north-south corridor?
OM: Yes, there has been some interest by Comesa through their bank, the PTA Bank; they have been inquiring, they have been approaching us, especially on the Chirundu-Harare stretch. We also signed some contracts with Chinese companies when His Excellency went to China. We have DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa) that has been keen to fund our transport infrastructure; we have quite a number of interested parties because road infrastructure, rail infrastructure and aviation infrastructure can sustain themselves through levies and other charges. So, those are the issues that the public needs to understand.
