Road now being built in Kwakwani will not last

Dear Editor,

Kwakwani will be given paved roads for the first time as was promised by Mr Sharma Solomon, Regional Chairman of Region Ten during the election campaign of 2011 and his regular visits to the community. The paving of our roads began early last year by one contractor and it could have been observed quite early that something was not being done right. In a matter of weeks the road began to have potholes. Money wasted.

Another contractor is in the process of doing this same road again and I made it my duty as a concerned resident and in the absence of a copy of the Scope of Work to examine what is being done. My observations so far have shown that the road will not last for six months in fair weather or six weeks in rainy weather.

The material that is used for bitumin (tar), from the information on the drums is a lubricant that is used on gears. (In the bauxite industry we call it compound.) There is no information that this material is suitable for road building. So like all the other communities getting paved roads for this first time, ours will be built and destroyed too. A waste of scarce financial resources.

There is a need for communities across the country to have paved roads, but the users must benefit. It is a rip-off to have a paved road built that cannot stand up for any significant period of time.

A good example of proper paved roads are those in Wisroc Housing Scheme. Those roads were built in the 1970s and have just a few potholes 30 years later.

I hope my criticism of this road is not seen in the context that I am against a modern outlook for my community, as that is not my intention. It is my view which is shared by many others that anything worth doing is worth doing well.

My suggestion is if the road cannot be built to last, then give the money to the residents to maintain what we have by filling the existing potholes. The results will be the same.

 Yours faithfully,

Jocelyn Morian