Leave the Chinese alone

THE EDITOR, Sir: FRANKLY SPEAKING, the Master Builders Association and the Opposition who are backing them in their rant against the Chinese builders need to be quiet.

Until they can show themselves to work efficiently and build roads and bridges like the quality seen from Bouygues (French) and CHEC (Chinese) they really have absolutely no voice. As taxpayers, we are tired of paying for roadworks and bridge building which last only until the next shower of rain.

Who remembers when the bridge at Harbour View was about to be built and the man was saying to the then PNP president and prime minister that it would not work because it was too low and the river would destroy it? He was hastily dismissed. Yet, just as he had predicted, the next time it rained heavily the Yallahs River dismantled the bridge.

POOR WORK BY LOCALS

When our roads are fixed by our Jamaican engineers and they do not last six months, do they refund the cost of replacing them? Or are they given another contract to pilfer more from the beleaguered taxpayers?

It should be mandatory that if the roads fail before five years, the contractors would have to fix them immediately. If they fail again before five years, a percentage of their contracted cost would have to be returned for another company to get the job of repairs.

Before casting blame or seeking to destroy, these engineers, especially the ones who build bridges and roads, need to check themselves and leave the Chinese alone. They need to go learn how to build roads before they verbally attack the Chinese.

Take a look at the French company Bouygues that redesigned the Bog Walk gorge after it was devastated during a storm in 2008 and up to today, 10 years later, it is still at least 95 per cent intact.

By the way, that road repair was done for free and completed within about six to seven months. That road used to be repaired at least twice per year by our Jamaican engineers.

JOSEPH EDWARDS