The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has stipulated that utility departments liaise when embarking on installing utilities to minimize road damage and traffic delays and to end the current ad hoc setup system.

“Various government departments dealing with utilities and services should ensure that roads are not subject to repeated digging operations,” the ministry said in a statement. “The current ad hoc system hampers both the quality of services offered and the quality of local infrastructure.”

The ministry conducted several workshops to raise awareness of the importance of liaising before embarking on such projects.

Guidelines have been recently published by the municipality for undertaking extension work, said the statement. The municipality is the only authority tasked with issuing licenses for digging activity.

Phone, electricity, water and sewage companies should only employ contractors who have acquired authorization from the municipality to embark on digging work for installing extensions, wires and the likes, said the statement.

Companies are also entrusted to level pits and trenches, repair damaged asphalt along pavements and inside roads and provide night lights and warning signs, the statement said. Contractors will be held responsible for damage caused to private property or public utilities during their work and are obliged to remove waste produced during these operations.