As a result of the sad event on Thursday last week which took place at Wallace-Johnson street, and claimed the lives of six young men, several local engineers were shocked by the incident which the Roads Authority claimed was caused by age and erosion and the public should not blame the SLRA.
What does this mean?
James on of the engineers says this clearly shows that the SLRA is not responsible for the maintenance and construction of roads in the country, therefore the public should be more concerned than before for their safety on when using the roads, especially bridges that were built during colonial rule or before the O.A.U that took place in 1980.
He said, “Yes, efforts are being made to improve on road infrastructure ,but the truth is roads and streets especially in the city are an eye-sore to the public, let alone Investors, as well as tourists”.
The blame of course, some other engineers, point fingers to Government. But they have their own story to tell. Some Sierra Leoneans are really unpatriotic because some of them will clean their homes and deliberately dump the debris into the already tight drainages constructed by road construction companies on behalf of Government.
Whether it was the design, or deliberate action, that’s another question the Sierra Leonean engineers say.
Most Sierra Leoneans, many a time will have issues affecting them especially what has to do with basic social service but will not say a word, but rather grumble when they meet at their local arenas and this has made room for so many unchecked wrongs that has happened over the years and still continue to take place with the usual “aw fo do” pattern “leh wi bear”. This syndrome has made many mishaps that should not have taken place, and as a result a lot has happened and many have suffered in silence and those responsible go unpunished.
Just a look at some of these roads one will want to imagine if there is an existing institution responsible for roads/streets construction and maintenance. The road leading to Governments main official building “youyi Building” is more than an eye sore for both residents in the community as well as vehicular/pedestrians traffic who pay tax to use the road everyday and this is the same road most Government officials use to and back from work, yet nothing has been done to quickly fix this road and all other roads/streets that needs urgent maintenance in and around the country.
Accessibility is paramount for a nations development, without access to good basic social service development will be farfetched and these are some of the yardstick, both local and International organizations use to do surveys and come out with report, that are not always good for a nation.
By Ade Campbell
August 13, 2013
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