Govt considers suspending toll fees on defective PPP road projects!
Government says it is considering suspending toll fee collections on underperforming Public Private Partnership-PPP- road projects until identified defects are repaired.
Speaking when he featured on the Friday’s edition of Let The People Talk programme on Phoenix FM, Member of the Public Private Partnership Council of Ministers Noel Nkhoma said the move is aimed at protecting road users and ensuring concessionaires are held accountable for the quality of infrastructure delivered under PPP arrangements.
Mr. Nkhoma who is also National Road Fund Agency-NRFA- board chairperson explained that concession agreements are guided by strict service level agreements which outline standards that must be maintained before operators can continue benefiting from toll collections and other road revenues.
He said the PPP framework remains one of the most sustainable ways of financing infrastructure development because it transfers risk from the state to private investors, unlike conventional government-funded projects where taxpayers carry the burden of defects and cost overruns.
Mr. Nkhoma cited the recent issues on the Ndola–Sakania road, explaining that under the PPP model, the cost of such failures is fully borne by the concessionaire.
Meanwhile, Mr. Nkhoma has dismissed claims that government’s acquired external debt of $2.8 billion is being used for road projects, saying infrastructure financing is mainly supported through domestic road-user revenues and public private partnership arrangements.
-Phoenix FM