NRFA PRESS STATEMENT

REMARKS BY ENG. WALLECE MUMBA, DIRECTOR/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NATIONAL ROAD FUND AGENCY (NRFA) AT THE PRESS BRIEFING HELD ON 3^RD FEBRUARY 2019, NRFA OFFICES, LUSAKA

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members of the press

ladies and gentlemen

all protocols observed

• I WELCOME YOU ALL TO THE NATIONAL ROAD FUND AGENCY (NRFA) PRESS BRIEFING AND GLAD TO SEE YOU ALL IN THIS HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS YEAR, 2019.

• THE PURPOSE OF THIS INTERACTION, IS TO APPRAISE YOU, MEMBERS OF THE PRESS, ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NRFA IN GENERAL, PARTICULARY THE OVERALL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ROAD TOLLING PROGRAMME A HOMEGROWN SOLUTION TO SUSTAINABLE ROAD MAINTENANCE.

• THE FUNCTIONS OF THE NRFA AS PRESCRIBED IN THE NRFA ACT 13 OF 2002 ARE THREE KEY PILLARS OF RESOURCE MOBILISATION, FIDUCIARY MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES AND VALUE FOR MONEY.

• WE ARE GUIDED BY THE PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT ACT NUMBER 1 OF 2018 AS IT RELATES TO THE MANEGEMENT AND CONTROL OF PUBLIC FINANCES. WE HAVE A PROUD RECORD OF HAVING UNQUALIFIED AUDITED ACCOUNTS FROM THE TIME WE WERE CREATED IN 2006.

• OUR LOCAL REVENUE STREAMS INCLUDE FUEL LEVY, OTHER ROAD USERS CHARGES SUCH AS ROAD TAX, WEIGHNBRIDGE FEES AND FINES, TOLLS AND GOVERNMENT DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.

• EXTERNALLY, WE GET LOANS AND GRANTS FROM COOPERATING PARTNERS.

• WE ALLOCATE THESE FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (RDA) ROAD TRANSPORT AND SAFETY AGENCY (RTSA) MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION, REHABILITATION, MAINTENANCE, ROAD SAFETY, EDUCATION AND REGULATION, AND TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CONSTRUCTION (NCC) FOR CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMMES.

• WITH SEPCIFIC REFERENCE TO ROAD TOLLING, I WISH TO STATE THAT NRFA WAS APPOINTED AS A LEAD TOLLS AGENT IN 2015 THROUGH THE PROVISIONS OF THE TOLLS ACT NO. 14 OF 2011 TO ADMINISTER AND MANAGE THE ROAD TOLLING PROGRAMME.

• PHASE I OF THE NATIONAL ROAD TOLLING PROGRAMME (NRTP) WAS LAUNCHED ON 1^ST NOVEMBER 2013 WITH inland tolling operations targeting heavy good vehicles with a gross vehicle mass (gvm) of at least 6.5tonnes which are by law required to be weighed at weighbridges. During this initial phase, collections of tolls were restricted to 10 ports of entry and eight (8) weighbridges across the country.

• phase ii of the nrtp was commissioned on 15^st january 2016 with the commissioning of the first ever two in-land toll stations at manyumbi and kafulafuta in central and copperbelt provinces respectively. At the close of 2018, the nrfa had operations at 12 in-land toll stations and 04 weighbridges.

• in 2017, the nrfa effected the revised toll regulations under statutory instrument no. 85 of 2016 which introduced local and frequent user discounts for motorists.

• local user discounts are for MOTORISTS WHO RESIDE WITHIN A TEN KM RADIUS OF ANY TOLL STATION IN ZAMBIA. THESE ONLY PAY K2 FOR SMALL VEHICLES FOR SINGLE ACCESS, OR K50 FOR THE WHOLE MONTH, WHILE LIGHT VEHICLES WITH 2 – 3 AXLES PAY K15 FOR SINGLE ACCESS OR K450 FOR THE WHOLE MONTH. 

• APPLICANTS ARE REQUIRED TO PRODUCE AUTHENTICATION DOCUMENTS WITH RESPECT TO RESIDENTIAL STATUS SUCH AS TITLE DEEDS, UTILITY BILLS OR RECOMMENDATION LETTERS FROM LOCAL LEADERSHIP AND PROOF OF VEHICLE OWNERSHIP. 

• THOSE WHO ACCESS TOLL GATES FREQUENTLY BUT DO NOT RESIDE WITHIN A TEN KILOMETRE RADIUS OF ANY OF THE TOLL GATES ENJOY FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS (FUDS) WHICH ARE REBATES UP TO 75%. VEHICLES FALLING UNDER THE CATEGORY OF SMALL VEHICLES PAY K5.00 PER PASSAGE UNDER FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS WHILE LIGHT VEHICLES BETWEEN 2 – 3 AXLES SHALL PAY K10.00, PER SINGLE ACCESS.

• TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FREQUENT USER DISCOUNT, A VEHICLE SHALL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH A PARTICULAR TOLL STATION AT LEAST TEN (10) CONSECUTIVE TIMES WITHIN A THIRTY (30) DAY PERIOD. THEREAFTER, THE VEHICLE SHALL QUALIFY TO PAY AT A FREQUENT USER DISCOUNT RATE FOR A CLOSED PERIOD OF ANOTHER THIRTY (30) DAYS. THIS DISCOUNT IS AUTOMATICALLY CALCULATED BY THE TOLL SYSTEM BASED ON VEHICLE ELIGIBILITY AS WELL AS ROAD SECTION USAGE, ACCORDINGLY. 

• THE NATIONAL ROAD TOLLING PROGRAMME (NRTP) HAS PROGRESSIVELY CONTINUED TO REGISTER GROWTH IN TOLL REVENUE COLLECTIONS SINCE COMMENCEMENT IN 2013 WITH AN AVERAGE ANNUAL REVENUE GROWTH OF 29% OVER A FIVE YEAR PERIOD (2014 TO 2018).

• IN 2018 A TOTAL OF ZMW908.59 MILLION WAS COLLECTED IN TOLL REVENUES FROM BOTH IN-LAND TOLL STATIONS AND PORTS OF ENTRY AGAINST A REVENUE TARGET OF ZMW845.610MILLION, REPRESENTING A COLLECTION EFFICIENCY PERFORMANCE OF 107%. OF THE 2018 TOTAL TOLL REVENUE COLLECTED, 344.2MILLION WAS COLLECTED FROM INLAND TOLL STATIONS, REPRESENTING 38% OF TOTAL TOLLS COLLECTED AND A 45% INCREASE OVER 2017 INLAND TOLL COLLECTIONS. FOR PORTS OF ENTRY 564.4MILLION WAS COLLECTED REPRESENTING 62% AND A 31% INCREASE OVER 2017 PORT OF ENTRY COLLECTIONS.

• IN 2018, 8.5MILLION VEHICLE PASSAGES OR TRANSACTIONS WERE PROCESSED, AN INCREASE OF 63% FROM 2017 (5.2MILLION PASSAGES) PROCESSED TRAFFIC.

• SIMILARLY, 1.083 MILLION PASSAGES WERE PROCESSED UNDER THE FREQUENT USER DISCOUNT IN 2018 AGAINST 515,652 PASSAGES IN 2017.

• THIS INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ROAD USERS ACCESSING SERVICES AT TOLL STATIONS SHOWS THAT THERE IS ACCEPTANCE IN THE MANNER IN WHICH THE NATIONAL ROAD TOLLING PROGRAMME (NRTP) HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED AND THE AGENCY REMAINS INDEBTED FOR THIS SUPPORT.
• WE NOW WISH TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO HOW THESE TOLL DISCOUNTS WERE ADMNISTERED IN 2017, WHICH SUBJECT MATTER HAS BEEN IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE PAST FEW DAYS.

• IN 2017, A TOTAL OF K236, 613,074.39 WAS COLLECTED FROM THE INLAND TOLL COLLECTION POINTS FROM 5,156,519 VEHICLE TRANSACTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.  

• A TOTAL OF 515,652 VEHICLE TRANSACTIONS WERE PROCESSED UINDER THE FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS, OUT OF WHICH 11,348 VEHICLE TRANSACTIONS WERE FOUND TO BE MISALLOCATED FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS WHICH DID NOT MEET THE 10 PASSAGES REQUIRED TO BE ELIGIBLE.

• THE 11, 348 REPRESENTS 2% OF THE FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS ELIGIBLE VEHICLE TRANSACTIONS AND 0.2% OF THE TOTAL TRAFFIC PROCESSED.

• THIS REPRESENTED A 98% SYSTEM EFFICIENCY IN ALLOCATING FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS AND AN OVERALL SYSTEM EFFICIENCY OF 99.98%.

• WE WISH TO STATE THAT THE BOARD AND MANAGEMENT OF NRFA HAVE BEEN MAKING EFFORTS TO ENSURE THAT THE SYSTEM IS IMPROVED TO COMPLETELY ELIMINATE AND EVENTUALLY PREVENT ANY INCIDENCES OF MISALLOCATION OF FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS.

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOM OF THE CORRECTIVE MEASURES WE HAVE IN PLACE:

1. THE AWARD OF LOCAL USER DISCOUNTS AND FREQUENT USER DISCOUNTS HAS BEEN AUTOMATED.

1. A CENTRAL MONITORING CONTROL CENTRE HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AT HEAD OFFICE TO PROVIDE REAL TIME OPERATIONS OVERSIGHT AT TOLL STATIONS AND IN ALL THE BOOTHS;

1. THE TOLL STATIONS HAVE BEEN CONNECTED TO A WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN) TO FACILITATE EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF TOLL OPERATIONS;

1. THE NRFA INTRODUCED AN ELECTRONIC CASHLESS PAYMENT SYSTEM TO MINIMIZE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH CASH HANDLING;

1. THE SYSTEMS AT CLASS A TOLL STATIONS WHICH INCLUDE KATUBA, SHIMABALA, CHONGWE AND MICHAEL CHILUFYA SATA HAVE BEEN CONFIGURED WITH AUTOMATIC NUMBER PLATE RECOGNITION (ANPR) CAMERAS TO FACILITATE EFFICIENT TRANSACTION PROCESSING;

1. ALL THE TRANSACTIONS IN THE SYSTEM HAVE AN AUDIT TRAIL WHICH ENABLES VERIFICATION OF ALL TRANSACTIONS INCLUDING RECEIPTING;

1. THERE IS A CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF THE TOLLING SYSTEM TO ENSURE THAT ANY BOTTLE NECKS ARE IDENTIFIED AND ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY.

IN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE STATED MEASURES, THE AGENCY HAS PUT IN PLACE A ZERO TOLERANCE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE TOWARDS FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES ACROSS ITS OPERATIONS. IN THIS REGARD, THE FOLLOWING MEASURES HAVE BEEN OPERATIONALISED;

1. A STRONG INTEGRITY COMMITTEE HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE AND HAS BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION AND THE DRUG ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION TO EDUCATE, PREVENT AND ENFORCE MEASURES AIMED AT ELIMINATING CORRUPT AND FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES;

1. FOCAL POINT PERSONS HAVE BEEN APPOINTED AT ALL TOLL STATIONS AND TRAINED BY THE ANTI CORRUPTION COMMISSION (ACC);

1. IN ADDITION, ROAD USERS ARE CONTINUOUSLY BEING SENSITISED THROUGH DIFFERENT MEDIA PLATFORMS ON MATTERS OF ROAD TOLLING INCLUDING THE DEMAND FOR AN AUTOMATED RECEIPT FOR EVERY PAYMENT THEY MAKE.

• THE FORECAST FOR 2019 IS TO COMMISSION AN 18 IN LAND TOLL STATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY BRINGING THE TOTAL TO 30 TOLL STATIONS. THE 2019 PROJECTED TOLL REVENUE COLLECTION FROM BOTH IN LAND AND PORT OF ENTRY IS K1.046BILLION

• FURTHER, THE NATIONAL ROAD FUND AGENCY WILL CONTINUE TO IMPROVE ON ITS PROCESSES IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT ALL COLLECTED REVENUES ARE PROPERLY ACCOUNTED FOR THE BENEFIT OF NATION AND ROAD USERS.

members of the press

ladies and gentlemen

I thank you