Africa-Press – Eswatini. The delay in the finalising of the government fleet leasing and financing will be costly for the taxpayer, says an economist.
The economist was sought for comment to establish if it was viable for government to continue leasing its fleet following the challenges experienced in 2018. This was when government had to rent about 96 per cent of the 1 091 vehicles needed for the general elections. The economist said the general elections calendar was known from the beginning of the year and plans should have been made to ensure that government maximised its resources by engaging in the fleet leasing and financing exercise. He said delays in completion of the exercise were bound to result in government using its resources without implementing due diligence in their returns.
“The fact that they have not bought the cars which they want right now already means that valuable money will be lost to renting as the nominations you are referring to are this weekend,” he said. The economist said he could not take away the fact that the fleet leasing and financing was a great initiative set to save the taxpayer from constant unnecessary fleet costs. However, he said if the turnaround in ensuring that it goes live before the completion of the general elections and or major steps of the exercise, it would be nothing but a great idea on paper.
Savings
He said government stood to make high savings if the proposed model was implemented properly. He said currently, managing the government fleet was a drain to the taxpayer, as the vehicles were abused and the regulations were relaxed in terms of disciplining employees found in the wrong. The economist said if government could instil the belief in personnel that every cent counted and everything should be treated as a business, then great strides would be made in the improvement of service delivery.
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