Chain benefits of infrastructure development
TAFTER THOUGHTS GUESVTIWLARNITEER
HERE are many types of investments and one of them is investing in infrastructure, which, as a country, we are constantly failing to achieve or at least improve. There can be many areas of concern, which all contribute towards the unsuccessful implementation of world class infrastructure. One of them is the broken choice of government, which comes down to the fact that those who are in power of decision-making are a part of the hurdle.
This is because of perception, the idea that anything towards infrastructure is just a new building, a new bridge perhaps even just a road, without having any idea of the emotions attached to the people it will make a difference to. Without placing themselves as leaders of the ship in the shoes of the communities that stand to benefit and how life changing it will be for those people in order to bring utmost honesty, integrity and transparency in overseeing these projects and the funds meant for them. Ensuring that every cent of those funds goes to the intended project, without any selfish motive or compromising the quality of the final product.
The bridge that may be an opportunity to pocket a hundred thousand for the government officials in charge and buying cheaper bricks or paying low skills employees less to account for the shortage of money now is a life to someone else. It is a stress free morning for a mother whose children have to cross a big river every day without the fear that they may not get to school safely after heavy rains. It is a stress free month, a night with a peaceful sleep for a man who knows they are going to bring a little something home working at the site. It is hope for a community that has struggled walking for miles to get to town because of the erosion caused by the river.
Hope
So, for many people it is not just another project, it is a ray of hope and the betterment of life, which is why it is crucial for those who remain in charge to not only understand this, but to also respect it and to have a heart for people in order to put them first. This is to say we cannot ignore the reality of corruption. The infrastructure of a country is often nipped at the root, where the funds intended for these projects bypass the pockets of expecting government officials who are without a care or even a thought of how this will affect the people whom the very same infrastructure is meant for.
One of the pillars that is ignored by the coming
about of such projects is not merely how it will benefit people beyond the economic implications of so doing. For a developing country as ours, it is fundamental to understand what this means. It means that there are very few people who are educated and have high skill jobs, therefore, a majority of the population is poverty-stricken and skills dependent. These are skills such as sewing, cooking, farming etc. A lot of emaSwati are employed through these projects and a majority of them are able to fill in the skills jobs such as mixing the cement, controlling traffic and so on in order to make a living for their families. It is a chain that will also benefit the supplier of the materials, the company that will get the tender to get all materials to the site and many other people in the chain of production.
This is to emphasise that, apart from improving the country, this is also a means of creating job opportunities for the marginalised in society. Many job programmes focus on the learned and are created to centralise on the population that is well educated and highly skilled, which means that the gap between the highly educated and the uneducated remains big. It can be closed off by employing the population that needs education through programmes meant to teach them and certify them in one field or another.
Secondly, it can be closed off by creating job opportunities that open room for the majority to also work. A contractor will most likely hire 50 men who will be doing the miniature tasks such as cleaning, baking bricks, laying them, operating the trucks and so on but these are all essential and are also a great mile towards improving the lives of people in communities and community development at large.