Gas tax debate

It seems that I was not the only one taken by surprise when a certain media house reported that the government had reneged on its’ promise to use part proceeds from the gas tax to facilitate road improvements.  I listened with great anticipation only to hear that the government had taken a loan from the Chinese government to finance road repair which could be done now and would use the proceeds from the gas tax to repay the loan.  I believe that there was a subsequent apology but it demonstrated the extent to which media house tend to sensationalise news.  It is incumbent on all media persons (myself included) to always present a fair and balanced report on a matter and not to simply stir up people’s emotions.

What I thought was going to be a big disappointment, turned out to be very good news instead.  Recognising that the fund would take too many years to build up sufficient funds to facilitate repairs, the government instead decided to borrow funds in order to repair the road infrastructure now.  This is indeed welcome relief to motorists who have been struggling to deal with bad roads and to communities who are seeing their roads falling away. 

 In addition, it is expected that some 19,000 persons will receive work from this project which is expected to run for a few years.  One of the principles that we have been stressing is that if the government is to borrow money then that money should be put to good use and should be used to stimulate the economy.  We need to put away the days of borrowing money to meet day to day expenses.  Loans should be for the purpose of encouraging growth and development in the country.

While I applaud the government for this initiative, I must sound a warning.  Please ensure that the money is efficiently utilised so that we get the maximum benefit for what it is being spent.  Let us watch and pressure government into living up to its’ responsibilities because it is our children who in the future will have to pay the cost of any failure on their part today.