It is not advisable to reduce the Fiji Roads Authority’s (FRA) budgetary allocation for the upcoming financial year, says Dialogue Fiji executive director Nilesh Lal.
During the Dialogue Fiji post-budget forum in Suva on Tuesday night, Mr. Lal voiced concerns over the $30 million decrease in FRA’s budget allocation.
“I know there have been instances in the past where the FRA was allocated a very sizable budget, but the actual utilization was rather low except for what happened during the election year in 2022 when almost the entire budget was exhausted,” said Mr. Lal.
“However, that doesn’t mean the need is not there.
“The argument is that if we’re going to be increasing the efficiency and the use of some of these grants that are made to FRA, for instance, they’re going to look at the contract modalities, then they need less money.
“I think that is what the rationale that has been exercised here, however, if you look at the state of our roads, if you look at the need to build the bridges and other infrastructure, I don’t think it is a good idea to reduce the budget of entities that are important such as the Fiji Roads Authority in this case.”
Mr. Lal said every fiscal year it was expected of entities such as FRA to be given increased allocations when the total National Budget was increased.
“What would be expected normally is that if every year the total budget is increasing, then there should be a proportional increase in the allocations that are made to the Fiji Roads Authority and the other entities that are responsible for infrastructure maintenance and development.”
Under the proposed 2024-2025 National Budget, FRA was allocated a total of $354.8 million – a reduction of $32.8 million.