Transport minister proposes new charges
Onalenna Kelebeile | Wednesday May 21, 2014 10:54
Speaking at a meeting with taxi operators in Selebi-Phikwe recently, the minister proposed the hiking of the fuel levy, introduction of carbon tax and fees for parking lots for public transporters. The measures are meant to raise funds to maintain roads.
However, he ruled out the introduction of road tolls, saying that they are not economical.
He urged councils to consider renting out parking lots as part of generating revenue to maintain roads. He suggested that councils should outsource the management of bus and taxi ranks to public transporters’ associations for better service.
He said this is what other countries have done. “There is need to start paying for using of parking lots and roads to raise funds to maintain the roads,” he said.
The minister stated that government uses part of the fuel levy to maintain roads but this is not enough. He said the 20 thebe per litre levy raises around P140 million per annum, far much lower than the P1.5 billion required to refurbish roads annually.
He said to construct a kilometre of tarred road costs P7 million. He stressed that many countries maintain their roads through charging a higher fuel levy than Botswana.
“The only solution is to seriously consider increasing the fuel levy to enable government to allocate more funds to municipalities to maintain their internal roads,” he said.
He disclosed that councils need P1.2 billion for maintenance of roads after the recent floods. Molefhi said that the Sefhophe-Martins Drift road will need more than P100 million to repair. He explained that there has been a delay because the tender award has been rejected by PPADB, hence another bidding process is ongoing.
“In the meantime, the road needs minor repairs and filling of potholes,” he said.
He explained that it would be unwise to install toll gates on the A1 road. He said the tolls are not economically viable as their maintenance costs would exceed the income they generate.
“The issue of toll gates is out of the question but we are seriously considering increasing the fuel levy.
We are also considering the introduction of carbon tax, that is already in practice in other countries, where carbon emissions from vehicles will be measured and paid for. We want to raise money for maintenance of roads through carbon credits as well,” he added.
The minister regretted that government does not have funds to construct a tarred road linking Platjan to Lekkerpoort. He said one of the considerations would be to run the Department of Road Transport and Safety as a parastatal so that it can be in a position to access loans from financial institutions to maintain roads.