Jamaicans deserve better roads
Published:Wednesday | October 18, 2023 | 12:06 AM
THE EDITOR, Madam:
The sub-standard construction of our roads is being exposed as nature’s water strip naked the asphalt clothing. Jamaica has been experiencing months of drought to the point where water restrictions were imposed to mitigate against the low levels of water in the dams.
The prayers went up to heaven, God sent the rains and another problem is on the ground. The drainless roads have volunteered themselves to assist the dams in holding water.
To be fair, the government has patched a few roads, but even the patches are now absent from duty. Now the potholes along with mosquitoes and the auto parts companies are hosting a ‘water holding competition’ in the roads. The winning communities will receive high motor vehicle repair bills and the outbreak of the dengue virus.
It is always fascinating how contractors have for years collected the result of Jamaicans’ blood, sweat and tears for incomplete work. It takes no scientist to figure out that roads constructed without drains are for temporary purposes only. Is this a deliberate act to suffer drivers to always be fixing rims, tyres and front end? Or is it to ensure that contractors can live the American dream?
All drivers can attest to the heart-wrenching feeling when their vehicles fall in a pothole. It amounts to money falling from one’s pocket and floating down the Sandy Gully River.
HOLD CONTRACTORS ACCOUNTABLE
It is noticeable that successive administrations have subjected the country to hefty road repairs oh so often with no accountability from road contractors. The operators of the toll road have shown that the Jamaican government is not serious about road construction and repairs.
Why can’t the National Works Agency follow in the footsteps of the toll operators? It is full time that the Government holds contractors accountable for taxpayers’ monies.
It is unfair for motorists to be spending millions in vehicle repairs because government wants to win the potholes competition. The powers-that-be were quick to show their authority at Crab Circle, but motorists suffer on roads that the same government is in charge of, wasting billions yearly on mosquito holes.
The citizens of Jamaica deserve to get their taxes worth and presently they are being short-changed.
HEZEKAN BOLTON