EDITORIAL: Road repair focus needed too

Earlier this week the plight of the people at Pothouse St. John took centre stage when residents spoke out about the poor conditions of the road in that community.

That badly damage road caught the attention of the Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who along with several officials from the ministries and government departments visited the area. During that visit PM Mottley promised short term relief to the residents and that the road would be fixed within two to three months’ time, which was no doubt welcomed news to the residents in that community.

Now that situation brings to the fore the fact that many of the roads in this country, and in particular rural communities, are in desperate need of repair. There is no denying that too many of our roads are in a poor state, not only are many areas plagued with potholes, but there are also many roads that are warped, making the traversing of them quite dangerous. Sometimes traversing the roads across the island is like navigating an obstacle course, as persons skilfully decide which pothole to drop into.

While admittedly the poor state of our road network is nothing new, it is imperative that repairs are executed sooner rather than later, as if allowed to further deteriorate, it will require even more money to fund the rehabilitative work. In this same forum some months ago we noted that the need to fix the roads were even more urgent given that we were in the middle of the hurricane season, and our advice was not wrong, for the situation at Pothouse was in fact made worse by the recent rains.

Now over the past few days we have seen the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance working assiduously to patch some of the potholes, but again we note that this is but a temporary fix. It is clear that extensive work needs to be undertaken to fix the roads and resurface them. Certainly with 2020 fast approaching and the country preparing to welcome Barbadians across the diaspora home through the We Gatherin initiative, road repairs must also be on the agenda of things to be done to “clean-up” the country. It cannot only be a focus on the sanitary conditions of the island.

It is hoped then that in the coming weeks we hear plans from the Government, just as it has been announced that $2 million has been earmarked to clean-up the island, that a budget has also be set aside to fix the roads.

On that note, we think it also imperative that when road repairs are executed that the contractors, whether it is the Ministry itself or a private entity is held accountable for the state of the road for a period of time. It is unclear if this is currently the case, but certainly it needs to be if we are to ensure that the roads are not allowed to deteriorate to the state they are currently in again.

Also, it is believed that legislation is needed to better manage work carried out by utility companies that impact the road network. We understand that such street works legislation to consolidate the various utility companies under one law and make them accountable to the Chief Technical Officer within the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance, should they have to excavate any road or part thereof was being considered by the previous administration. It would be wise for the current government to follow through on it, because too often roads are dug up by utility companies and for weeks, sometimes even months after the work is completed, those roads are still not repaired. This practice is wholly unacceptable as it poses a danger to motorists and pedestrians alike.

As we come to the end of 2019 and prepare to embark on 2020, it is hoped that these are issues that will engage the attention of Government in the not too distant future.

Barbados Advocate

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