NRA ready to start projects

By SAMUEL RAITANO
THE National Roads Authority (NRA) will continue to upgrade roads in the country next year.
NRA chief executive officer Roy Mumu on Wednesday said that NRA was ready to start next year’s projects though it did not receive funding from government budget.
Mumu said NRA was established to rely on its own to secure funding and made close to K18 million annually from fuel levy to carry out its projects.
He said the amount NRA generated was not enough and required assistance for an annual budget of K100 million for its operations to be effectively accomplished.
The aim of NRA under the national transport development plan (NTDP 2006-10) was to have 16 priority national roads in the country to be in good condition by the end of this year; however, six roads have been worked on so far.
Mumu said that insufficient funding caused setbacks in the NTDP which could impact on other development plans for the country.
“The flow of basic goods and services throughout the country depends on the road system, and money spent in upgrading the road networks is money well spent,” Mumu said.
Transportation and efficient road network is a main factor that affected the growth of the rural informal sector.
Mumu said while NRA was working toward achieving Vision 2050, it wanted to see changes in service delivery mechanisms as a result of good road conditions.