Minister For Public Works Reassures FRA Staff And Contractors Of Continuity
January 11, 2023
CONSTRUCTION OF A ROUNDABOUT AT KOROTOGO ALONG QUEENS ROAD
January 31, 2023
25 January 2023
Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) Chief Executive Officer Kamal Prasad advises that the Ministry of Finance has redeployed $15 million to the FRA for maintenance and emergency works. This will greatly assist FRA with the immediate response works and aftermath restoration effort.
“Nonetheless, FRA will continue to liaise with the Ministry of Finance to secure additional funding so that a constant amount of money, which is sustainable, is spent on maintaining and upgrading roads around Fiji,” said Mr Prasad.
He said in the last 5 financial years, FRA delivered on average $351 million worth of works per year with a low of $250 million in 2020/21 and a high of $419 million in the financial year 2017/18.
Furthermore, “In the first 5 months of the current financial year, FRA has managed to deliver projects worth 62 percent of the budget allocation despite slow progress on loan-funded projects (Transport Infrastructure Investment Sector Project). The 62 percent of the budget was expanded efficiently and we have seen a positive impact on the level of service of the existing sealed roads. The favorable weather conditions for road construction between August and December have greatly assisted this effort.”
“We could have delivered more for the expenditure, however, due to the rising cost of fuel and raw material this was not possible. Approximately, 16 percent of the cost incurred was the impact of the global price hike.”
Mr Prasad said considering the urgent need to arrest the rapid deterioration of sealed roads and former Governments appetite to appropriate a mini-budget, FRA accelerated the periodic maintenance programme.
“However, since the announcement by the Honorable Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka that there will be no mini-budget, and that the funds from the 2022-2023 budget will be redeployed to accommodate certain immediate priorities of the Government, hence the periodic maintenance program has now been held back to retain funding for damages that may be sustained by torrential rain experienced in Fiji due to climate change.”
He said that the FRA is in communication with its contractors updating them on the work that can be delivered without overspending.
Mr Prasad said both the Minister of Public Works, and Transport and the Minister for Finance have assured their support for the continuation of road works as required.
Read Here: FRA WORKING WITHIN THE ALLOCATED BUDGET
