Jeon Byeong-yong, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member, "Budget for Local Road Maintenance Directly Related to Resident Safety Must Be Concentrated"

Choi Byung-yong, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] On the 16th, Jeonnam Provincial Council member Choi Byung-yong pointed out Jeonnam Province's determination regarding the local road maintenance projects directly related to the safety of residents during the review of the 2nd supplementary budget proposal by the Budget and Accounts Special Committee on the 15th, and urged them to do their best to secure the annually insufficient budget for local road maintenance and structural improvement projects.

This supplementary budget exceeded 9 trillion won for the first time in Jeonnam Province's history, but the budget allocation for hazardous road improvement projects was only 4.4 billion won, 3 billion won for pedestrian walkway maintenance in front of villages, and 3 billion won for local road shoulder maintenance compared to the total budget.

The local roads managed by Jeonnam Province consist of a total of 38 routes spanning 1,962 km, and the estimated budget required for new local roads and widening and paving construction is a total of 7.3809 trillion won, but only 2.0626 trillion won has been invested up to this year, which is grossly insufficient.

Council member Choi Byung-yong strongly criticized, “Despite the repeated annual calls for securing budgets for local road maintenance projects, the allocated budget falls short of demand, showing that Jeonnam Province lacks determination in local road maintenance projects that play a pivotal role in residents' safety and regional economic revitalization.”

He added, “In the case of Local Road No. 863 (Beolga~Gongjeong Village, Imok-ri, Hwayang-myeon, Yeosu City), due to the opening of the Yeosu Hwayang~Goheung land and island bridges, the number of tourists and road users has increased, causing a sharp rise in vehicle traffic, making local road maintenance urgent. The budget required for this alone is about 10 billion won,” pointing out that with the current budget, local road maintenance projects are bound to face setbacks.

He continued, “Local road maintenance greatly contributes not only to the safety and convenience of road users and reduction of logistics costs but also to the revitalization of the tourism industry,” and strongly urged thorough efforts to secure the related budget.

Meanwhile, this supplementary budget proposal will be reviewed by the standing committee and the Budget and Accounts Special Committee at the 342nd regular session of the Jeonnam Provincial Council and will be approved and finalized at the plenary session on the 17th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.