The Board of the National Road Authority (NRA) has disclosed to the National Assembly (NA) Select Committee on Public Enterprise (PEC) that, the Road Authority has spent a total of two hundred and twenty million, nine hundred and seventy-nine thousand, seven hundred and ten dalasi (D220,979,710) on road maintenance as at 31st December 2019.
The disclosure was made on Thursday, 28 January, 2021 during NRA’s appearance before the said committee, for the presentation of its activity reports and financial statements for the years 2018 and 2019.
The lawmakers heard that, total non-current assets had increased as at 31st December to D19,594, 332 from D8,656,548 as at 31st December 2018. That, total Current Assets as at 31st December 2019 stood D159,151,950 with a decline to D133,824,623 as at 31st December 2018.
The Board further puts the total assets as at 31st December 2019 at D178,746,282, with a slight decrease to D142,481,171. Total accumulated fund and reserves as at 31st December 2019 stood at D153,333,211 with an increased total accumulated fund and reserves to D101,891,277 as at 31st December 2018.
Total accumulated fund and liabilities stands at D178,746,282 and D142, 481,171, respectively during the year under the review, whereas total income for the year under the review stands at D354,779,470 and D253,817,495”, said NRA Board.
The Board, however, posited to the committee that the government should increase the road maintenance programme, as it would save the nation’s future costs on the maintenance of the roads, as well strengthening the capacity of the NRA in terms of preparing a robust pipeline of bankable projects and programmes, where all risks and potential returns are evident for all the parties involved.
The Board stressed the urgent need to look for alternative sources of funding different from external resources. In that regard, it recommended for the government to promote private sector participation in the country’s road infrastructural development; “which is widely seen as an approach to lift efficiency in operations, maintenance and long-term asset lifetime cycle management”.
