Maharaj speaks out on innovative funding scheme at official launch of National Roads Agency
FIVE NEW road projects are under scrutiny by the newly commercialised National Roads Agency (NRA), said transport minister Mac Maharaj at the official opening of the agency in Pretoria last week.
These include three on the N1 and N2 in the Western Cape, one in the Eastern Cape which incorporates the Kei Cuttings section of the N2 and one on a section of the N17 traversing Gauteng and Mpumalanga, he said.
The NRA is the third agency to be opened this year. The Maritime Safety Authority and the South African Cross Border Transport Agency were launched in April and the Civil Aviation Authority will be opened in October.
The agencies will operate as independent statutory bodies run by a chairman and a board of directors.
The NRA will take care of the some 7 000km of declared national roads and, over the following decade, is expected to expand these to nearly
20 000kms.
The transport department has made innovative changes in its relationship with the private sector and the way in which national roads are funded.
The most significant changes, he said, had been
to rethink the role of Government in the provision of road infrastructure and to apportion financial risk to the party best able to bear it.
In three current major roads projects, Government was no longer required to act as financial guarantor in any of the concession agreements, said Maharaj.
"New ground was broken with the N4 when the concessionaire agreed to carry the full financial costs of building the R2 billion road between Witbank and Maputo. This was taken further on the
R2-billion, N3 De Beers Pass road between Johannesburg and Durban where the concessionaire will not only raise the money for the road but will take over the state's existing R1,3 billion debt on the road. The third major project is the R1,5 billion Platinum Route which will link Pretoria through Rustenburg to Lobatso," he said.
"By doing this, not only does the national department move closer to its core business of policy formulation and regulation, but it also gives focus to key areas of transport activity that will now take place in agencies dedicated to maximising productivity and the growth of services in their respective areas," he said.
Last year the department put out work valued at R800 million, with about 20% targeted to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME) and training. This year it was expected to put out contracts of more than R900 million with SMMEs, training getting 25% of the budget, said Maharaj.
NRA chief executive officer Nazir Alli said the agency's actions would be aligned with the visions of providing a primary road network which was safe, reliable, effective and fully integrated with other transport modes.
"We aim to meet the needs of our investors and customers and ensure quality service is provided at optimum cost. We also aim to support the strategies of Government for social and economic development whilst being environmentally and economically sustainable," he said.
By Anna Cox
