The Road Fund Chief Executive Officer Mr. Nkekeletse Makara has urged Road Implementing Agencies to strive to improve the quality of roads in the country, as they are almost on the verge of collapse.
He said this while officially opening the Technical Stakeholder Engagement Meeting with representatives of the Road Implementing Agencies namely Roads Directorate, Maseru City Council and the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship, organized by the Road Fund recently.
He indicated that it is more critical than ever to work together to safe the prevailing situation, further requesting the Agencies to focus on doing quality roads that can last for the anticipated economic life.
“The little we are able to do, if we can do it right, will assist us to come with long term strategies to realize value for money. It is worrying that most of the road works are not able to survive one rainy season. This shows that Agencies do not pay attention to quality as contractors are working, please rectify this mistake,” he reiterated.
Mr. Makara said the Road Fund is looking up to the Agencies to improve their performance because it collects funds from the road users, who in turn are expecting to see positive developments on the roads, saying if this does not happen, it hits back more on the Fund than the Agencies who do the actual work.
He concluded by asking participants to device a unified approach to ensure that every Agency remains consistent while doing maintenance works, as that would be good not only for the Financier but for the road users whom the money is collected from as well.
During the Meeting, the Road Fund Senior Secretariat Engineer Mr. Tšeliso Polaki led the participants through the Performance Agreements, submission of Annual Maintenance programmes and Reporting Formats for better understanding of same and to ensure compliance as well.
The representatives of Implementing Agencies promised to comply with all requirements of the Fund, and mostly to work closely with contractors as they maintain and rehabilitate roads so that they deliver expected quality within the expected timeframe.
The Road Fund maintains relations with its stakeholders at various levels and the Technical meeting will lead to the High Level Stakeholder Engagement Meetings, where the Road Fund CEO will hold discussions with Heads of the Implementing Agencies.
