GOVT EMBARKS ON STUDY TO CLOSE LEAKS AT CTA

MANZINI – Government is embarking on a study which may lead to the shutdown of the Central Transport Administration (CTA).

The study is set to bring operations into order at the CTA, which is a drain to government in terms of resources. The department, which had its trading account suspended in 2020, has been marred by corruption-related scandals, which include the theft of fuel valued at over E10 million, stealing of automobile parts and failure to fix the government fleet.

Its core functions include to purchase, maintain and dispose of government vehicles and other related equipment; as well as to provide fuel for government vehicles. It also rents vehicles for government ministries and departments. This department has five workshop facilities spread across the country and they are located in Mbabane, Matsapha, Nhlangano, Pigg’s Peak and Siteki.

Responsible

For the efficiency of the government machinery through provision of transport, the CTA has been responsible for a fleet of about 3 000 vehicles ranging from motorcycles, sedans, LDVs, trucks, tractors to heavy specialised construction motorised equipment. However, due to its operations being in disarray for over a decade, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport has since flighted an advertisement expressing its intention to modernise the management and use of the government fleet to achieve operation efficiency and improved service delivery.

It  expressed a wish to engage an experienced fleet management consulting firm, whose technical team would be in possession of relevant training and demonstrating a clear track record of experience in planning, designing and executing a complete fleet management solution of this magnitude.

Challenges

However, in light of some of the aforementioned challenges that have adversely impacted service delivery by the various ministries, the administration, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, called upon fleet management consulting firms to submit their requests for proposals to, among other things, offer an independent view on the current state of the fleet including but not limited to the age and condition of all vehicles in the government register.

Subsequent to this, sources said through the invitation of the consultancy firms to establish and provide solutions for the challenges faced by the CTA, government was seeking to establish the viability of owning a fleet against that of renting it for a certain period. The sources said the model government was seeking to introduce was similar to what other governments were doing, wherein they sought a private financier to lease the cars on their behalf.

This, the sources said, shifted the burden to maintain or service the vehicles from government. This, they said, would be transferred to the financial institution which shall be entrusted with sourcing the fleet for government. Making an example, one of the sources said: “The study will determine how many cars are needed for government. Thereon, government will approach one of the financial institutions to rent vehicles for it, which will either be retained by government after certain years or be sold by the financial institution.”

Owning

However, another source said government was leaning towards not owning the fleet as that would entail maintaining them. This, the sources said, was the cheapest way of managing the government fleet as it would cost a fraction of what government is currently renting vehicles at. However, with the anticipated outcome of the study, it is expected that the cost would be minimal as government would be renting the cars for a certain number of kilometres expected not to exceed 200 000 kilometres per vehicle.

It was gathered that projections were that government could have a sound fleet over a period of three years. This period would have allowed for the replacement of the 3 000 fleet, which half of it has already exceeded its lifespan, according to previous reports by deceased Prime Minister (PM) Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. The sources said following the implementation of the proposed strategy, all government fleet systems would run without any hurdles. The sources said this would also do away with the reckless driving within government as the system would monitor the driving of the personnel and ensure that the designated driver was the person behind the steering wheel.

Controls

“There will be a high level of controls that will do away with the reckless driving and failure to monitor the fleet,” a source said. The sources said the institution which would eventually be awarded the responsibility of managing the government fleet shall avail vehicles which would limit their abuse through the installation of an accurate worldwide navigational and surveying facility based on the reception of signals from an array of orbiting satellites.

On the other hand, the sources said the implementation of this model would also assist government in cutting the wage bill, as some of the personnel at CTA would receive packages and stand to tender for government jobs. The sources highlighted that since the National Road Agency would soon start operating, it would take over the Roads Department’s responsibilities.

The Roads Department studies, analyses, designs, upgrades, constructs and maintains the national road network which comprises of approximately 1 500km of main roads and approximately 2 268.64km of district roads.The department carries out these functions through a combination of professional services and in-house personnel and equipment. The in-house personnel is responsible for resealing, regravelling, road marking, clearing the road shoulders, drainages, guardrails, drainages which are important for the extended life of the road and cleaning or repairing culverts and small bridges.

The sources said their personnel would be awarded their benefits and be encouraged to establish their own companies to tender for government jobs in fixing roads. “They can also buy some of the plant currently used by government to fix roads to engage the required services. As they do that, it will also mean that the mechanics who were responsible for maintaining their plant should also get benefits and start their own companies. It is a chain of job opportunities for many people,” said the source.

The sources said when government did not maintain its fleet as it would be the responsibility of the institution used to finance the initiative, personnel at the CTA would not be needed and it might eventually close down and save government the huge burden of financing it.

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