FIJI'S Land Transport Authority (LTA) collects $8 million in road user levy annually.
LTA spokesman Alfred Wiliame said there were about 80,000 registered vehicles using Fiji roads.
And he said the LTA was only the collecting agent for the government in as far as road levies were concerned.
But Minister for Public Utilities, Works and Transport Colonel Timoci Natuva said money collected via road levies were not sufficient for road maintenance works.
He said the annual cost of periodic maintenance on our roads cost some $24million, against the $12million his ministry was allocated annually for those road upgrading works.
Col. Natuva told this newspaper that to construct a new road, it cost $3million a kilometre as it had spent on the construction of the new road at Wailotua in Wainibuka.
He said the resealing of the Sawani to Naqali road, which was more than 10 kilometres, cost $10million.
"This means that it cost $700,000 to $800,000 per kilometre depending on the terrain," Col. Natuva said.
"After every eight to 10 years, a road has to be resealed and the cost increases annually because of the cost of coal and materials."
Fiji Road Authority spokesman Iliesa Sokia said the government's road network total 500,000 kilometres. About 200,000 kilometres was yet to be sealed.
He also said the ministry's budget for this year was $380million with 60 to 70 per cent allocated for other capital projects.
Mr Sokia said the bulk of roadworks were funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Exim Bank of China and Exim Bank of Malaysia.