Three billion dirhams are earmarked annually for the road network maintenance, that is about 46% of the total budget allocated to roads, said Tuesday in Rabat, Minister of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water Abdelkader Amara. During the question time at the House of advisors, Amara stressed that the national road assets exceeded 300 billion dirhams, and failure to maintain them would be a loss for the country. The Minister said that the cost of regular maintenance of the road network amounts to 250 million dirhams per year, highlighting the willingness of the ministry to consolidate the achievements in the field of road maintenance, mainly in view of the increase in investments linked to the construction of new roads. The extension, construction and rehabilitation works of the road network to meet the growing needs of road traffic cost nearly 54% of the budget allocated annually by the ministry to roads, he noted, adding that there are certain problems which hamper the work of the ministry at this level, in particular those related to the novelties obliging the ministry to make changes in programming and financing, like the Tiznit-Dakhla expressway. Regarding the communes' roads, their total length should reach 33,000 km, and efforts are being made by local authorities in coordination with the ministry and the stakeholders to improve the frequency and the quality of the maintenance of rural roads, with a view to preserving road assets in the rural world, said the minister. The official said that achieving the required balance between maintenance of the road network, the preservation of road assets and the construction of new roads is a challenge for the ministry, noting that there is a problem linked to the special fund for financing road projects, linked to fuel revenues which experience price fluctuations that affects the budget allocated to the road network.
