Infrastructure woes
THE constant and never ending issues related to our critical infrastructure and its impact on the services to the people has reached a crisis point.
The deafening silence from the relevant minister and the Coalition Government is of great concern.
It seems the minister is very visible when it comes to opening bridges and roads, but is unable to respond effectively to many of the critical issues facing almost every area of his large portfolio.
Even during the recent saga involving certain PSs doing deals with certain investors, there was no serious response nor any results of the findings and how the individuals were dealt with.
It is not surprising therefore when we read the rampant corruption in the LTA ranging from obtaining licences to passing vehicles.
It is common knowledge among the people that a small “monetary gift”, is mandatory if one was to get one’s vehicle passed or a licence to drive granted.
Is it surprising to see the quality of vehicles, including taxis, buses and trucks, and the standard of driving on our roads. Why is it so hard for the minister and Government to take a strong and decisive action against such blatant corruption?
The water saga has reached alarming point with the result that the lack of clean water is impacting on people’s health, livelihoods and sanitation. But we continue to read about the commissioning of certain projects with the headlines such as “Water woes will now become history”.
It is ironical that our country is blessed with so much rain and water still has not been able to design policies which will enable people to save and store water during times of plenty and use it during times of drought, a phenomenon which will become more frequent because of climate change.
The condition of our roads especially in the rural areas is disgraceful and there seems to be no initiative to develop this using the millions of development and government assistance given to the FRA.
The ministry has not initiated any plans to address the rising problems to do with increased vehicle numbers and the inability of the artillery roads in all major urban centres to deal with it.
The transport sector is also the fastest growing sector for greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
How hard is it for the department/ministry to think of innovative policies such as sharing cars, designating certain number plates to come to cities on particular days etc to try and alleviate the problem.
It is good to see the bicycle lanes on QE Drive, but how many cyclists will use this to go to work, especially when there are no lanes in connecting roads such as Fletcher, Laucala Bay, Ratu Sukuna et cetera.
It is high time the PM, Cabinet and indeed the Opposition demanded more accountability from ministers on their plans, policies and vision for the areas under their responsibility. It is not sufficient to be travelling business class to attend international meetings and preaching the usual rhetoric.
One other measure of their performance ought to be how much funding and technical support they are able to bring to the country and how these are translated into tangible on-the ground outcomes.
ALTAUF CHAND Minto, NSW, Australia