Caption: INA Executive Director Paul Barker
By MATTHEW VARI
Sunday, November 8, 2015 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)
INSTITUTE of National Affairs Executive Director Paul Barker raised concerns over the reductions in maintenance budget allocation, at the budget press lock-up, of national roads in the country from K70 million slashed down to K40 million.
Mr Barker pointed out that maintenance budgets have been larger than in the years gone by where budgeting for maintenance were totally inadequate, but also added that the increase came about due to the many road projects that have been initiated in recent years under the current government.
“But of course there has been a lot of capital investment going through infrastructure in the last couple of years that inevitably requires funding for maintenance for the existing and new infrastructure,” Barker said.
“I noticed that the maintenance allocation although higher in the past seems to be reducing and over the next years it is envisioned to be reducing further.”
“We have to ensure that we have adequate investment in maintenance otherwise it will add to the cost and we will keep knocking on people’s doors asking for capital investment.”
Treasury Secretary Dairi Vele in his response pointed out the government plans to get maintenance to a much more focussed activity and capitalizing the majority of funds into building more roads
“This is a roads government, and we have missed out over the last 20 years. In some parts of the world if you can’t make it in Port Moresby you go to Lae- if you can’ make it there go to Madang. We just don’t have that opportunity here.”
“We have taken a conscious choice that lets just build the roads and be a little bit more focused with our maintenance, and again rely on our colleagues at Works (Department of Works and Implementation) so that as we do expand our roads network we can come and have a smaller amount that is more targeted on implementation of our maintenance,” Vele said.
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