DA suggests fund for SA roads
2008-11-25 18:04
Cape Town - The DA on Tuesday proposed a dedicated road infrastructure fund be established to properly maintain the country's roads.
It was alarming that the quality of the country's roads had deteriorated substantially in the past ten years, DA spokesperson Stuart Farrow said in a statement.
According to a study released on Monday by the Automobile Association (AA), 60% of national or provincial roads were in poor or very poor condition, compared to about 22% in 1998.
"The declining quality of our roads is a result of years of serious under-budgeting for road infrastructure by the ANC government.
"For example, the current backlog for the maintenance of the provincial road network is at R72bn, yet provinces only budgeted R5bn to eradicate the backlog for the 2008/09 financial year - leaving a shortfall of R67bn," Farrow said.
The AA stated that "vast portions of South Africa's road network were in danger of becoming so badly damaged that they would no longer be able to be repaired, and the government would be forced to reconstruct them".
The DA proposed that a dedicated road infrastructure fund be set up to be used solely for the maintenance and construction of roads.
"These funds must be transferred to provinces in a ring-fenced form to eradicate the current backlog and make further investment towards building new roads to increase the road network," Farrow said.
- SAPA