SAO warned of road constructions´ poor financing but corrective measurements have not been implemented
Press Release – October 17, 2007
An audit performed by the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) focused on the system of management and realization of road construction and renovation projects registered in 17 programmes of the ISPROFIN system. According to the audit outcomes, the projects lacked an appropriate efficiency.
The audited bodies were Ministry of Transport (MT); State Fund of Transport Infrastructure (SFTI); Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic (RMD) with its general directories in Brno and Prague, and RMD administrations in Brno, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Chomutov, Liberec, Ostrava, Pardubice, Pilsen, and Prague. The auditors chose 435 projects presumably worth more than CZK 400 billion, which were under construction during the audited period that ran from 2005 till the end of the audit, including associated data from the previous time. Realizations of 50 projects worth CZK 62 billion altogether were checked in details.
“Realization of projects that were partially funded by the state budget (especially when co-financed by SFTI), did not follow the programme financing rules, which led to financial insufficiencies in case of many of them. Realization terms got postponed, several projects split into separate stages. Completions of complex traffic passages got delayed in more than 6 years compared to 2001 and 2002 presumptions. This would push back the implied effects,” said František Dohnal, president of SAO.
Before the investment projects were approved, no appropriate assessments of the possible route plans or socio-economical evaluations had been accomplished. “SAO previously warned of those insufficiencies, but no corrective measurements have been implemented so far, in spite a released government decree issued improvements and scheduled inspections by Minister of Transport,“ said Dohnal.
On average, preparations of projects that concerned compact traffic passages took 8 years from the beginning of the project processing till the release of a building approval. From 2004 to 2007, the presumed costs of the 435 audited constructions went up by CZK 76 billion. More than half of them increased their expenses by 46 %. Only 32 % constructions followed the initial completion terms.
The auditing operation was included into the 2007 Audit Plan under No. 07/04. Jiří Adámek, Member of the SAO Board, controlled the operation and drew up the audit report as well.
Radka Burketová
Press Speaker
CR – Supreme Audit Office