PAC faults Roads Fund on tollgates

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has faulted the Roads Fund Administration (RFA) for erecting two tollgates on the M1, saying they are an economic burden to motorists.

PAC expressed the concern yesterday when RFA appeared before the committee in Lilongwe to explain why it erected tollgates at Chingeni and Kaliyeka the stretch of the M1.

The tollgates, constructed on the M1 at Chingeni in Balaka and Kalinyeke in Dedza District, are the first in the country and so far raked in K500 million since opening in November 2021.

At the tollgates minibuses pay K2 000 while 31-seater buses and vehicles weighing between five and 10 tonnes pay K4 000. Light and pickup cars pay K1 000 while vehicles weighing beyond 10 tonnes pay K5 000. Abnormal loads pay K20 000.

But PAC chairperson Shadreck Namalomba said motorists are being burdened with toll fees at both facilities instead of paying once.

He said: “The other tollgate should have been put between the Lilongwe-Karonga stretch and not in Dedza.

“We want those using the M1 on the route to also pay toll fees that can be used in rehabilitation of the roads in this country.”

Namalomba said the M1 is mostly damaged from Lilongwe to Karonga, which shows that there is heavy traffic on the northern stretch.

“The committee feels road users on that stretch between Blantyre and Lilongwe have been overburdened,” he said.

Namalomba also wondered why RFA is only concentrating on the M1 when there are several roads, including those leading to borders of the country.

He assured that the committee will continue to engage RFA to ensure tollgate roll out is fairly implemented.

In his response, RFA chief executive officer Stuart Malata said there is a standard that guides the tollgate project such as the distance between toll gates, which is between 100 kilometres.

He said two studies that were done showed that traffic volume was higher on the Blantyre-Lilongwe M1 stretch.

“Erection of tollgates are based on traffic volumes. Two studies we conducted showed that the traffic volumes on that stretch were the highest,” Malata said.

However, he said the implementation is a phasedp and the fund will embark on a second phase that will see more tollgates constructed on other roads.

“Resources permitting, we will erect new tollgates in the next financial year,” said Malata, adding that based on assessment of traffic volumes, one tollgate will be constructed on the Lilongwe-Karonga M1 stretch.

The Roads Fund Administration introduced the tollgates as a reform area to diversify sources of financing for road maintenance which currently solely relies on fuel levies.

The fund expects to raise between K4 billion and K5 billion per year from toll fees with the amount projected to increase with the passage of time.