Failure to maintain public buildings, etc, is a barrier to progress in Region 2

Dear Editor,

We have a great amount of man-made wealth in the form of schools, hospitals, community centres, offices, magistrate’s courts and other public buildings, to name some in Region 2.

And we have built up over the years many formal and informal institutions and systems but we are not managing our affairs in the region properly. While we have made some important strides,  the region as a whole has many barriers to progress. Perhaps the most serious impediment relates to maintenance, or the failure to correct some minor fault such as in the case of the Charity Magistrate’s Court building, which was a total embarrassment to this government. Many public buildings and sports grounds (eg, community centres) are in a deplorable condition and have been in a state of disrepair for years.

We need to know what buildings and sports grounds we have in our region which are in need of urgent repairs and development, and whether those places are being fully utilised. What natural resources do we have, and how can we organise to make beneficial use of them? We need to identify and evaluate the administrative/management systems which are in place. Are they adequate for the purpose for which they were set up? Can they be improved with better management? How can they be made to contribute maximally to the development effort?

When we are fully seized of the facts, when we have identified and assessed the potential of our region, when we have given thought to the ways and means of making fullest use of this potential, then we would have geared ourselves for the task of moving this region forward.

Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan