The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) is unable to produce asphalt at a R50 million plant it acquired in 2017, according to Moneyweb.
As lockdown eased the JRA began tackling the enormous pothole backlog. Reports suggested that a shortage of tar was the problem. In fact, the problem is a lack of production: no tar has been produced for over five months.
The plant in Booysens was launched by then-Mayor Herman Mashaba in 2018 to “speed up service delivery”.
A report tabled to the city’s transport committee reveals that the “plant has not met any of [its] production targets”.
In 2018/2019 the plant only produced 68 655 tons of asphalt when its target was 150 000 tons.
Moneyweb surmises that 2019/2020 and the first quarter of 2020/2021 are probably much worse, but no further data is available. The plant was “not operational” for the whole of July and a “shortage of supply of materials and internal human resource challenges” are also problems.
The report lists as the most damning problems:
- The two-year warranty plan has lapsed and not been renewed;
- A lack of proper routine and preventative maintenance;
- A contractual dispute with the original service provider;
- The lapse of the operation and maintenance contract;
- No JRA personnel were trained and certified to run and maintain the plant;
- The laboratory doesn’t function, the site is not secured with an electric fence, alarm or cameras;
- the current structure is “misaligned” to the needs of the plant.
The employees are not working but are being paid.
The report presents a clear plan of action, but the city realises that the JRA board should consider a public-private partnership.
“It is management’s view that adopting the mid-term approach is more appropriate to avoid the continuous waste of resources.”