By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA) has said the need to review its act is urgent considering the strain the go through in accessing resources for their activity. Officials of the institution said they cannot deal with the emerging problems faced in the road sector because the Act that established the institution is “obsolete”.
The RMFA was established by an Act of Parliament in 2010 for an efficient, economic and sustainable management and administration of funds allocated the routine maintenance roads.
Public Relations Manager at the fund, Mohamed B Mansaray explained in a meeting with stakeholders on Tuesday that they don’t have any way to determine how much funds they should get from the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), which is the major contributor to the Fund. He said this is a major loophole in the Act which has limited their activities.
“At the moment there is no set formula to determine how much contribution SLRSA is to make to the RMFA. This irregularity on the part of SLRA has had a negative impact in the Administration’s funding capacity,” Mansaray said.
The discussion was part of a public engagement concerning the role of RMFA in the country.
Funds from SLRSA and the Oil marketing companies are the major source of funding for RMFA considering how much money both get on behalf of road users.
The idea of a road fund originated from the World Bank as part of the Transport Research Support Program, a joint World Bank /DFID initiative focusing on emerging issues in the transport sector in developing countries.
Despite progress in the road infrastructure over the last decade, Sierra Leone still has a major challenge in maintaining most of the infrastructure. Bad roads have become worse over the years, causing a lot of discomfort to pedestrians and vehicle owners, especially during the rainy season.
Explaining the importance of maintaining the road infrastructure, a Senior Civil Engineer at RMFA, Allie M Koroma, said: “For the road fund, our primary responsibility is maintenance; doing those things that will keep the roads at the level that it was constructed.
“That is why we normally ask local councilors for roads that have been newly constructed, because studies show that if the road has been left to deteriorate to the point of rehabilitation, at the end of the day it will be very expensive,” he said.
© 2019 Politico Online
