DRIVERS, vehicle owners and commuters at large have expressed concern over the poor road condition in the city following days of rainfall in the country.
Over the past days most drivers have raised their disappointment over the poor work being done by contractors along the highways and feeders roads within the city.
Many have described the work as not up to standard and as a means of fundraising drive by the contractors costing tax payers money because the repair works only lasted for only weeks and not even a month.
Many of these drivers have questioned responsible authorities about could be done to get rid of this problem of hiring contractors who fail to execute quality job.
Public drivers said, that this style of doing things has to stop, as it causes headache to drivers and the travelling public.
A bus driver uttered his frustration over how these road workers use to disturb the during daytime, causing long queue under the scorching sun, with poor quality work output that only lasted for few weeks.
“This does not speak well of our responsible authorities and does not make any sense to us human beings,” the bus driver stated.
“This problem had been happening for so many years now without any realisation from our responsible authorities, which is evident that something is not right here,” he added.
A taxi driver who declined to be named said, that some places along the road, for instance Bahaii highway was just fixed some weeks ago, but during this rainy season these holes were exposed again that raised more questions on the quality of work done by contractors.
“Down at the Tandai highway, West Honiara part of the road was buried with gravels recently and was tar sealed, yet the pot holes appeared again following the raid,” the taxi driver stated.
“While we commend the efforts made by our responsible agencies to improve the state of our deteriorating roads, we condemn their failure to get the right people to deliver quality and reliable road works that could last for at least a year,” the taxi driver added.
A vehicle owner said, this calls for the engagement of overseas contractor fix the roads so that it can withstand the weather condition of this country.
“It seems our local contractors are not doing a good job to fix our roads that can withstand the heavy rain. We need outside contractors to do it for us so that the roads can be weather proof.
“Although it would be an expensive exercise for the government its worth the cost so that our roads can last long,” the long-time Honiara resident said yesterday.
A daily commuter said, there are millions of dollars being paid to contractors each month under the National Transport Fund (NTF) therefore the roads should be fixed properly.
“There needs to be review about the work of our road contractors.”
The public are now urging the relevant government authorities to put some efforts into improving this problem.
By AATAI JOHN