LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 30th JUNE 2017 Government of Samoa OFFICE FOR THE MINISTER OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTRY OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE; ELECTRIC POWER CORPORATION; SAMOA WATER AUTHORITY; SAMOA PORTS AUTHORITY; SAMOA SHIPPING CORPORATION; SAMOA AIRPORT AUTHORITY; LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY; SAMOA SHIPPING SERVICES & PFL 16 February 2018 The Honourable Speaker of the House Afioga Le’aupepe Toleafoa Faafisi Legislative Assembly MULINUU In accordance to Section 25 of the Land Transport Act 2007, I respectfully submit to you on behalf of the Board of Directors for transmission to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, the Annual Report for the Financial Year Ended 30th June 2017. Ma le fa’aaloalo, Papali'itele Unasa Niko Lee Hang MINISTER OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE TABLE OF CONTENT CHAIRMAN'S REPORT ....................................................................................................2 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT ..........................................................................7 AUDITOR'S REPORT ..................................................................................................... 27 AUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT .................................................................................... 29 Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 1. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to report on the performance of the Authority for the financial year ending 30th June 2017. 1. 1 FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED JUNE 2017. The FY2016/2017 was not as challenging financially for the Authority as previous financial years. Despite showing another deficit working capital financial result at the end of FY2016/2017, the Authority's overall operating deficit was significantly reduced by around 94% if compared to the previous financial year. Herewith are the contributing factors; 1.1.1 NATURAL DISASTERS/EMERGENCY WORKS. Despite heavy rainfall causing floods, landslides and permanent damages to some parts of the national road network, emergency repair costs were very minimal, compared to damages caused by cyclones Evans, Tuni and Amos in the previous financial year. Most of these emergency repair works were covered under existing repair and road maintenance contracts and carried out by responsible contractors assigned to the affected zones. 1.1.2 CAPITAL WORKS. The Authority undertook only a few capital works within FY2016/2017. The implementation of these capital works were mostly rolled-over from the previous financial year. 1.1.3 PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS. As shown under Note 6 of the attached accounts, a dividend of $102,309 was paid to the Government during FY2016/2017, which was a more manageable amount for the Authority, compared to paid out dividends in previous years. 1.2 THE AUTHORITY'S FUTURE 1.2.1 FINANCIAL RESERVES. The Authority will continue to pursue this initiative further, to ensure appropriate provisions will be provided each year in its annual budget. Such provisions should eventually end up in the Authority's balance sheet. 1.2.2 VAGST RECEIVABLES. There are on-goings negotiations between the Authority and the Ministry for Revenue (MfR) on the treatment of this balance sheet item. It would be a huge relief financially, for the Authority should MfR agree to fully refund the $4,632,649 VAGST receivables related to the financial year under review. Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 1.2.3 WTO ACCESSION PACKAGE. As part of Samoa's accession package to the WTO, the Authority was assigned four (4) commitments to complete within certain timeframes. Two (2) have been completed and are being implemented already, with another two, still outstanding. The Cabinet has directed the Authority to fulfill these outstanding commitments in due course. 1.2.4 FUTURE PROJECTS. 1.2.4.1 RTAS and TONS systems upgrade An up-grade of the Road Transport Administration System (RTAS) and Traffic Offence Notice System (TONs) is currently underway. The main objective of this up-grade development, is to have a quality and user friendly system in place, operating on all approved updated vehicle registration and usage policies, that also captures all the financial implications of these policies for critical decision making. 1.2.4.2 Procurement and Installation of Parking Meters The Authority is also looking at installing a number of parking meters as one of the mitigating measures to minimize uncontrolled parking in the Apia central business district, which has become detrimental to traffic flow and the business operations around these areas. 1.2.4.3 Transport Sector Priorities The Authority, through the Ministry of Finance, has requested our development partners to fund some of the projects, that have been identified as priorities under the Vulnerability Assessment of Samoa's road network. These include: (i) upgrading of West Coast Road (Malua - Faleolo, Upolu) (ii) upgrading works for Cross Island Road (Upolu) (iii) design, supervision and upgrading of East Coast Road (Upolu) (iv) design, supervision and upgrading of Alafa'alava Road (Aleisa - Upolu) (v) design, supervision and upgrading of the road joining East Coast Road from Patamea to Safotulafai/Safua (Savaii) 1.3 CONCLUSION The Board will continue to uphold good corporate governance to ensure that the best interest of the public is well protected, while maintaining financial stability of the Authority. I would like to acknowledge our development partners for their on-going contributions to the enhancement of our roads infrastructure network. Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 I also acknowledge the Chief Executive Officer, Management and Staff of the Authority for their dedication and efforts throughout this financial year Ma le fa'aaloalo, Moananu Ioane Filemu CHAIRMAN BOARD OF DIRECTORS Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 2. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT It is my pleasure to present another annual report for the Land Transport Authority. 2.1 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR: 2.1.1 UPGRADING OF VAITELE STREET FROM VAILOA TO SAINA The upgrading of Vaitele Street from Vailoa to Saina was officially opened on August 22, 2016. The four-lane extension project was funded under the Enhanced Road Access Project (ERAP), that is financed by the Government of Samoa, the World Bank and the Government of Australia. It was a 7.2km span upgraded works between Vailoa and Saina, costing $68 million tala, including widening of the road into four lanes, improved drainage system, upgraded pedestrian walkways, better crossings and street-lights, and most importantly, a more resilient piece of infrastructure that withstand natural disasters. The upgraded four-lanes street has significantly improved the traffic flow from the town area to the industrial zone and vice-versa, provided safer and easy access to important public amenities for the travelling public, and hopefully, creating more business opportunities for our people. The Prime Minister delivered the opening address on behalf of the Government of Samoa, with representatives from the World Bank and the Government of Australia also in-attendance during the opening ceremony. 2.1.2 GIVE WAY RULE The Give Way Rule became effective on September 3, 2016. This was an upgrade to our road use codes, bringing Samoa in line with International Traffic and Road Use Codes acceptable requirements. There was a notable improvement in traffic flows within the Apia central business district as a result of this change. LTA with assistance from the Ministry of Police successfully implemented the change without any accident. 2.1.3 CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON YEARS AND TYPES OF IMPORTED VEHICLES. The accepted year of vehicles imported to Samoa was changed from 12 to 8 years, effective on April 1, 2017. Therefore, the acceptable year of all imported vehicle for 2017 was 2009, and for 2018 will be for 2010. The Government also allowed back the importation of left hand drive (LHD) vehicles into the country, but limited to 4X4 trucks only. This was effective on April 1, 2017 as well, the rationale being Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 to allow in more suitable vehicles to support agricultural development, especially for our farming community. Internal policies and processes were amended and readjusted to support these new changes. 2.1.4 EMERGENCY WORKS IN SAVAII In April 2017, Samoa faced heavy rainfalls causing floods and landslides at some areas, especially at the Northwest side of Savaii. Heavy stream flooding caused major damage to the cross culvert at Aopo, which eventually washed away completely. The contractor (ON & Sons Construction) responsible for repairs and maintenance works for this zone constructed the replacement cross culvert. Another area that was hugely affected by the heavy rainfalls is the inland gravel road from Vaiaata to Patamea. The responsible contractor for this zone, Handyman General Contractors, carried out all the required emergency repair works. The total cost of all the emergency works was about $100,000.00 tala, and solely funded under the Authority’s annual budget for the FY2016/2017. Damaged Road and Cross Culvert at Aopo. New Permanent Culvert Crossing at Aopo. 2.1.5 ELECTRIC SCOOTERS LTA accepted with much appreciation six (6) new electric scooters (e-scooters), funded under the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Project by the Governments of Austria and Italy. A ceremony was held Land Transport Authority Annual Report 2016 – 2017 on June 30, 2017 where