By Nasratu Kargbo
The Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) Ibrahim Sannoh has called on government to allow them retain 10% of their revenues generated.
Speaking during his budget presentation at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown, the Executive Director said 10% of the revenue they generate is sent to Road Maintenance Fund Administration (RMFA), but however said much safety interventions have not been seen. He therefore called on government for that 10% to be retained instead for their safety operations.
“We contribute 10% of our revenue retained by Treasury Single Account (TSE), and these monies are being referred to RMFA for road safety issues. However, there is not much collaboration to really pinpoint on the safety interventions been carried out by either SLRA or RMFA,” he said.
Sannoh said that when issues of safety are brought up by the public, they become “the pinnacle of bashing” stating that they have been on the spot light for road crashes, explaining that many people do not know what entails in their daily operations.
He added: “If government is not supporting safety, because we are not sub-vented by government, then let our 10% be retained or else there is nothing we can do on safety.”
Sannoh said that since January to August; they have remitted not less than Five Billion Leones to RMFA; explaining that those monies are deducted from source. He said they have sweeping accounts in different banks they operate with and that at around 4pm, these monies are swept into the TSE. He added that before the weekends and before remittance is made, 10% of their revenue is retained.
He said the nomenclature of the institution changed in 2014 and the competitive bench marks of how the country is rated with regards safety issues depend on their interventions which he referred to as preventive interventions.
Throwing light on the interventions they have made on safety, he said they did the sidewalk railings at Jui, Shell, East end Police etc. He stated that they had to station Police and Military on the streets to actualize the operation push back which aims at clearing the roads of traders.
He stated that the government should also prioritise road safety issues as with education, noting that the safety of kids to school can only be ensured when road safety measures are put in place, explaining that safety is as expensive as other sectors such as education, road construction, agriculture and energy etc.
SLRSA therefore presented a budget of 107,800, 000,000(one hundred and seven billion and eight hundred million Leones) for the 2022 financial year.
Copyright © Politico Online (06/10/21)
