By Dr Moses Amweelo The action taken by the government over the past few years to bring about the much-needed positive change in the status of our road infrastructure is highly appreciated. On 4 October 1994 government adopted a totally new transport policy, which calls for the improvement in the performance of the transport sector and encouraging competition as the main instrument to achieve increased efficiency. It also calls for the introduction of a system of road-user charging for full recovery from road users of the costs of providing and maintaining road infrastructure, according to the principle of minimizing total transport costs, with co-financing from general revenue sources for that part which does not directly benefit road users. To give effect to government’s policies and objectives, the project was launched during 1995 to reform the sector. Some of the goals of this project are to restructure the institutional arrangement for planning, designing, constructing and maintaining Namibia’s national road network, as well as to replace the conventional way of funding through the national budget, by a new way of funding through a dedicated road fund and a road-user charging system. It was envisaged that the road sector reform would ultimately have many advantages, of which the most important ones expected would be: It will bring about a more cost-effective and more competitive road sector. It will promote a more equitable and equal means of recovering costs from the beneficiaries, the road users, including the heavy vehicle operators. The country will thus be able to maintain one of its most important assets, the national roads network of more than 42 000kilometers, on a sustainable basis and in an efficient way. It will reduce the direct role of government in the road sector and increase the role of the private sector to participate in the maintenance and construction of Namibia’s roads. Namibia will align itself with international standards regarding roads and the SADC protocol on transport, communication and meteorology to which Namibia is a party. After hard work the institutional reform resulted in the establishment of three entities, being the Roads Authority, Road Fund Administration and the Road Contractor Company, which were officially launched in Windhoek on 12 July 2000. The reform process of Namibia’s road sector has been a long and winding road. We have reached the end of this bumpy road on time, exactly at the turn of the century as was planned by the MWTC 2000 project, the restructuring initiative of the government. The Roads Authority (RA) The main function of the RA is to manage the national road network, including the tasks of planning, design, construction and maintenance. To do so, the RA makes use of contractors for especially the construction and maintenance works. All road maintenance and construction work will be put out on tender. A Board of Directors is responsible for the policy, control and management of the authority, whilst a Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the administration. According to its Act, the Roads Authority also has to submit a performance statement, a business plan and an annual report to the responsible Minister. Furthermore, the Roads Authority also accepted responsibility for the Namibian Traffic information System (NaTIS – the registration and licensing of vehicles, and the management of road transportation) and for the policing of overloaders and other road transport and traffic regulations by means of our road transport inspectors. The primary source of funding for the afore-mentioned tasks comes from a road fund which is fed by road-user charges and administered by the Road Fund Administration. The Road Fund Administration (RFA) The RoadÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ Fund Administration, under the auspices of the Minister of Finance, is to manage the road-user charging system to secure and allocate funding to achieve a safe and economically efficient road sector. Like with the two other entities the policy, control and management are entrusted to a Board of Directors, whilst a Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the administration. It will in consultation with the Minister of Finance determine the rates of the charges and collect them. It will be published in the Government Gazette. Road-user charging is accrued in the road fund, which may only be used for roads and road-traffic related expenditures. Traffic law enforcement, the national transport information system and vehicle-testing centre may also be defrayed from the fund. The Roads Authority or approved authorities like town councils are entitled to apply for funding from the Road Fund Administration. The RFA is autonomous, acts transparently, consults with interested parties and acts as a “trustee” on behalf of road users. To ensure its efficiency and effective control, the Act stipulates that the Road Fund Administration has to submit a performance statement, a business plan and an annual report to the Minister of Finance. The Roads Contractor Company (RCC) The Roads Contractor Company, which is a company in terms of the Companies Act, is fully owned by the government. A Board of Directors is responsible for the policy, control and management of the company, whilst a Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the administration. The object of the company is to undertake work relating to the civil engineering works, and the construction or maintenance of roads in accordance with sound and generally accepted business principles. The Roads Contractor Company enters into a performance agreement with the shareholding minister according to which the company will have to perform its functions and meet its obligations.ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ From the establishment of this entity (in 2000) the Company was granted a period of three years to become fully competitive and commercialized. During that time it received preferential maintenance contracts from the Roads Authority, thereafter the company tendered for contractual work on an open-tender basis, making it the first State-Owned Operational Enterprise to compete on an equal basis with the private sector. Important characteristics of the Roads Contractor Company are: It has a flat organizational structure with only a few people in its head office. Business is decentralized. Decisions are taken and income will be generated by maintenance units on divisional or district levels. Maintenance work is alsoÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ carried out through labour-based methods, ensuring work for more rural people. Performance above the required levels ensures employees better remuneration and living conditions. By now the Roads Authority and Roads Contractor Company have become much more “visible” across the country. I think that all Namibian people will agree that the goals set by the previously mentioned reform process have to a large extent been met. To meet it fully, we would also undoubtedly agree, will take more time and continuous dedication. Be assured that the government and the newly created entities have taken up that challenge. The government and the entities will always welcome participation from the owners of Namibia’s road network – the public – to assist in doing a good job, and to serve the road users best without having the road users to pay too much. Finally, we have to salute and congratulate all the people and organizations that have purposefully persisted in and worked towards bringing about the major changes. They include all the stakeholders, the government and the consultants. Please accept our gratitude and big thanks for a job well done.