30 Jan 2014

Budgetary constraints and absence of a maintenance manual are the main reason why Botswana’s roads are deteriorating, Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Nonofo Molefhi  has said.

He was addressing a kgotla meeting at Mookane in Central District on January 28.  Mr Molefhi explained that money allocated for roads was insufficient to both maintain and build new ones. He stated that  P700 million allocated to roads was not enough.

This amount comprised P300 million from the ministry development budget, another P300 million from the recurrent budget and P100 million pula from the  ‘20 thebe  per litre’ fuel levy on a yearly basis.

Mr Molefhi, who acknowledged most roads needed maintenance, said his ministry needed around P1.4 billion for road maintenance only. “We need P1.3 million to be maintaining Sehitwa /Shakawe road only,” the minister stated. He pointed out that there were 11 650 kilometers of un-tarred roads around the country.

He explained tarred roads for light vehicle cost P5 million pula per km while those that catered for heavy tracks cost P7 million per km. Mr Molefhi said roads construction and maintenance was expensive, thus when  government started feeling the pinch of economic recession in 2009, it was compelled to freeze all new projects, which included roads.

The recurrent outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Zone 6 and 7, he said, worsened  Botswana’s economic outlook.  However, Mr Molefhi said only projects that were critical to the economy could be undertaken, which was the reason government built  Tati and Shashe bridges.

He explained experts advised government in 2012 to reconstruct Shashe and Tati bridges  within three years as  they were now old, failing which government would need to weigh and regulate loads passing through the bridges, such vehicles exceeding the limit would have to use alternative routes. That would mean more distance, which would in turn raise the cost of goods.

As part of initiatives to improve the revenue in his ministry, Mr Molefhi said they would consider to hike fuel levy,  adding that in most countries ,fuel levy was higher than what Botswana charged. “In South Africa fuel levy is R1.50 for every litre, in   Namibia R1.48, in Lesotho a and Swaziland is  R1.45”

He said they were considering to increase the fuel levy by P0.50, and add P0.30 next year. A P1.00 fuel levy for example, would add P900 million pula to the ministry coffers, he said

However, increasing the fuel levy would need the approval of other relevant stakeholder which include bank of Botswana and parliament. He noted the Bank of Botswana would be more concerned with the issues of inflation as it would mean some goods and services that need transportation would be affected.

In addition, he said he was considering transforming the department of roads to a parastatal so that it could approach banks to get money for roads construction, in which case it could use the fuel levy to settle the loan.

“Because we are no longer a low income country, we are no longer given soft loans by other states [and development partners]” he noted.

Meantime, he said the ministry had bought graders that would be allocated to regions to gravel and smoothen roads as there would be no new roads till budget permits. ENDS