Monrovia, Liberia – The Management of the National Road Funds has denied media reports that there is missing money in the Road Funds Account.

The management of the NRF has said in a press release that no USD$4.5million in its account.

“FOR THE RECORD THERE IS NO FUNDS MISSING FROM THE NRF ACCOUNT, HOWEVER, THERE ARE CHALLENGES IN TRANSFERRING FUND WHICH IS CAUSED BY PROCEDURES DIFFERENCE . THE SITUATION IS BEEN RESOLVE BY THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES.

IN FACT, THE NRF HAS TRANSFERRED FUNDS INTO COMMERCIAL BANKS ACCOUNT AS REQUIRED BY DONORS TO FINANCE THE MCC MATCHING FUNDS (2.5MILLION), 2.million SECRAMP FOR THE GANTA – TAPPITTA ROAD AND 1 million REHABILITATION WORKS IN THREE COUNTIES TOTAL OF USD$5.5 MILLION”

Meanwhile international partners have Recommended to the National Road Funds the followings :

1. Full transfer of collected funds: The GOL should demonstrate that it can effectively and regularly transfer into the National Road Fund account all fuel levy funds collected by LRA as required by Section 5 of the NRF Act. All other steps to successfully implementing the NRF Act are dependent on the effective collection and transfer of the road levy without diversion of funds to unrelated expenditures. As of January 2019, the LRA has collected approximately $US 13.3 million, but only $US 8.8 million has been transferred to the NRF accounts. Transfers are lagging 2 to 3 months behind schedule with the risk that government will be tempted to increasingly rely on the road fund levy to cover non-road related expenses.
2. Data driven maintenance plans: Donors have supported the development of a 5-year maintenance plan that is driven by road conditions data. The GOL must ensure that the selection of maintenance projects is data driven and performance-based to ensure value for money and remove political bias in selection of projects. Compliant data driven maintenance plans have to be submitted to the IMSC for final approval as soon as possible for immediate start of tender procedures for works in 2019/20 dry season.
3. Importer’s arrears: Fuel importers have not transferred to GOL approximately $US 20 million in fuel levy that they collected from customers. The GOL must implement a robust strategy to collect the arrears from the fuel importers and transfer those funds into the NRF account.
4. Permanent technical advisor: The NRF needs a permanent technical advisor to support implementation of the NRF Act and build capacity.