Protection of the National Roads Asset
Channel: Mainsah Gilbert
Date: 2022-06-16

Protection of the National Roads Asset
Between 1980 and 2021, the total length of the national road network increased from 55 000 kilometres to 121 000 kilometres, leading naturally to a substantial increase in road network traffic and a multiplication of damage on Road Assets. Faced with this situation and in addition to the need to update the tools for financing road maintenance, there was an urgent need to restructure the repressive arsenal designed at the start. 
This is what justifies the preparation of this Bill, which comprises 89 (eighty-nine) sections divided into 5 (five) chapters as follows: 
- Chapter I: General Provisions; 
- Chapter II: Roads Asset Protection Mechanism;
-  Chapter III: Roads Asset Protection Financing;
-  Chapter IV: Penalties for Roads Asset Damage; and lastly;
- Chapter V: Miscellaneous and Final Provisions.
Furthermore, the Bill ushers in some innovations, including:
- improvement of road protection tools, by laying down vehicle technical specifications and administrative rules to be observed prior to putting vehicles on the road;
- strengthening of sanctions by increasing the fines initially set; 
- updating of the road maintenance financing mechanism, marked notably by the restructuring of the “Road Fund” whose resource base is broadened, in addition to the creation of a third window, namely the “Compensation” window, to fast-track the implementation of road projects.
Besides featuring among the requirements expressed by Cameron’s Technical and Financial Partners, the adoption of this Bill will help to put in place a legal framework that should underpin the actions included in the NDS30 with regard to repair and maintenance of the national road network, 90% of which is made up of earth roads.