MONROVIA – Public Works Minister-designate Roland Giddings has alarmed over the “insincere” usage of monies intended for the construction and rehabilitation of roads across the country under the National Road Fund (NRF), mismanaging remittances and depriving Liberia and its citizens from benefitting.
By Obediah Johnson
It can be recalled that in 2016, a NRF Act was passed by the National Legislature and signed into law by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for the collection of US$1 from a gallon of petroleum products sold in the country.
Speaking when he appeared for confirmation before the Senate Committee on Public Works on Wednesday, February 7, Mr. Giddings, who is one of those behind the formation of the NRF, disclosed that the Fund was exclusively established for the maintenance and rehabilitation of roads in Liberia.
But according to him, portions of the monies collected by the Fund have been diverted by the government, through the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning.
“Report has shown that the remittance is between 45 to 93% from the Ministry of Finance and the Liberia Revenue Authority to the road fund-that means as a country we have not been sincere to ourselves. The road fund is established exclusively for road maintenance and rehabilitation and I think we should do that.”
Speaking further, Mr. Giddings observed that ambiguity in separate laws for the management of proceeds generated from the Road Fund has deprived Liberia and its citizens from adequately benefitting from the Fund.
He made specific reference to the 2009 Public Financial Management and the 2016 National Road Fund Laws of Liberia
He observed that though the Road fund remains key to Liberia’s development agenda by raising domestic revenue to support infrastructural development, it has not been beneficiary to the citizenry.
Mr. Giddings pointed out that Section 2.4.3 of the National Road Fund Act which mandates the authority approved by the government to collect user charges to transfer the fund to the account defined in the law, runs contrary to the PFM law of 2009 which amongst other things calls for all government revenues to be deposited into the Consolidated Account at the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL).
“This ambiguity has led to the loss of the road fund and revenue that should have been remitted directly to the escrow. This is just one ambiguity in the law that we need to correct to ensure transparency and accountability in the administration of the Fund. I believe that the Road Fund Act should be revisited especially for the movement of funds where generated into the escrow account as established by law.”
He averred that the NRF has been operationalized by using just a single source (the road user charge on petrol).
He said the other areas including charges for vehicle registration, driver licenses, foreign vehicles entry levy fees and charges for vehicle users on the roads are not being collected.
Generating more revenue
Mr. Giddings recalled that authorities of the NRF recently conducted a study and established that Liberia would generate about US$50m if the other sources of revenue generation are operationalized.
He emphasized that the law is good and can be used as a domestic financial instrument to raise additional resources for the government and people of Liberia.
He, however, vowed that his administration will finalize the establishment of a National Road Authority to focus only on the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of road network in the country.
“We will and continue to ensure accountability in the road fund management to bring back donors’ confidence to put funds into the road fund. I think this is a good way of raising resources.”
Paved and unpaved roads in Liberia
He, however, recalled that recent studies as shown by an inventory conducted by the Ministry of Public Works in 2019 recorded that Liberia has 13,000km of roads across the country in all categories, including primary, secondary and rural roads.
According to him, only 8.7% or 1440km of the roads are paved out of the total kilometers of roads in the country.
He disclosed that primary roads constitute about 18% of the entire road network of which 23% of the primary and major roads are paved, leaving 77% unpaved.
Mr. Giddings maintained that about 36% of the primary or major roads are in good condition. This, he added, is due to the fact that primary road network is predominantly characterized with asphalt.
He said there are only 72km of paved road out of the 2500km of secondary road, while 12km of 7,500km of the feeder roads are yet to be done.
He vowed to continue the pavement of highways connecting county capitals across Liberia to create access to the region and other places.
Mr. Giddings further promised that the Trans-West African highway will be constructed to connect Liberia to neighboring countries, construct and upgrade secondary and feeder roads to enable farmers have access to local markets for sustainable agriculture development.
Critical for development
Mr. Giddings emphasized that roads remain a critical infrastructure for development of Liberia.
“This is why the government ARREST agenda highlights roads as a major catalyst to drive economic prosperity.”
He noted that the availability of quality road network will unlock the potential of agriculture, tourism and economic growth and development across the nation.
He said his administration will adapt a strategic approach to generate the needed resources to carry out roads construction.
Mr. Giddings pointed out that the road network program, under his administration will focus on key areas including, road investment to include construction and rehabilitation, maintenance of existing and new roads, amongst others.
“Sustainability efforts will be focused on roads, bridges, accessible patrol management, tow system, road safety and institutional reform. We will reinforce appropriate investment in roads and bridges to extend access across the country.”
Bridge supervision
He disclosed that an inventory for bridges and coverts was collected through a survey initiated by the MPW in 2016.
He reported that out of the 2448 bridges across the country, only 432 bridges were in better condition.
“A total of 7,593 coverts have been inventory also. Out of that, more than 50% are concrete piped coverts, boxed coverts and other coverts are in excellent condition, whereas 30% of the corrugated coverts are found to be in bad condition. ”
Mr. Giddings said this alarming statistics points to the need for the construction of “real bridges” as some corridors across Liberia remain occupied with log bridges.
Fiscal prudence
He disclosed that as part of efforts to promote fiscal prudence at the ministry, he will encourage financial management control over the execution of the approved budget of the institution.
He added that this is intended to ensure transparency and accountability by safeguarding financial resources of the country.
Mr. Giddings emphasized that he would champion the fight against corruption by preventing the offering of kickbacks to higher-ups at the ministry for the awarding of projects to contractors.
He stressed that a competitive bidding process will be carried out for all projects and anyone caught soliciting kickbacks or bribes will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
“There will be strict compliance with the Public Financial Management Act to ensure financial prudence.”
Contribution to national budget
Mr. Giddings pointed out that the MPW, under his administration, will build a tax compliance culture by educating the public on compliance requires for the issuance of construction and other permits.
He added that a specific timeframe will be given for the public to comply with standards before the launch of this exercise.
According to him, the ministry will work with the Liberia National Police (LNP) to enforce compliance or possession of a permit before commencing any construction in the country.
“We will strengthen the institution capacity of the zoning division to enhance active mobilization and approved non-tax revenue collection for permits and certificates.”
Capacity
He said human resource and personnel warfare development will be prioritized to get the job done properly.
He noted that the surge payroll of US3.3m of the ministry needs to be reviewed.
Mr. Giddings said motivated employees should be willing to make the sacrifices, noting that his goal remains to motivate employees so that they can be able to yield the best outcome and reduce staying away from work, increase performance level and be ready to work under stringent conditions.
“Training and capacity building at the Ministry of Public Works will be a priority. That is something I performed when I was Deputy Minister for Administration at the MPW.”