Roads are vital economic and social lifelines of any society. It provides the means for evacuation of farm produce and movement of goods, raw materials and persons from one place to the other. Good road network is a sine qua non to a vibrant economic system. It is, therefore, not surprising when a Chinese adage succinctly postulates that “if you want to be rich, build roads first”.
From historical perspective, the development of roads metamorphosed from the Egyptian Carthaginian age to the Romans who were regarded as great road builders. For, their chariots’ riding roads, commenced the earliest cement technology. It was long lasting, especially their enviable Appian ways. They were straight and panning over hills, instead of cutting around them. The Appian ways were known to slope slightly from the center towards both sides, to drain off any possible stubborn water. They were, no doubt durable but difficult and most expensive to construct.
Overtime, the processes, technology, resources, and manpower used in road construction have evolved. Today, the budget for construction of roads occupies a larger chunk of annual fiscal appropriations of developing economies including Nigeria. In fact in Nigeria, due to poor maintenance culture of the citizens, their governments and in some cases, the delivery of substandard roads have made road construction more or less a “concurrent expenditure” in our budgets. It, therefore, behoves on every one to jealously guard our roads. This will enable public resources to be channeled towards other important development projects, and opening and construction of new roads instead of continuously wasting scarce resources on failed roads.
There must be sincere and regular maintenance of our roads. May be, taking a look back into the good old days of Public Works Department (PWD) could help us glean important lessons on the best ways of maintaining public facilities especially roads. The truth is there is no man-made product that can shy away from wears and tears with time and usage. Our tarred roads are no exception and should, therefore,
be maintained regularly and upgraded instead of allowing them to fail totally.
The best way to give a road a long life span starts from its construction. Construction firms and engineers should avoid shortcuts, dishonesty, and incompetence in delivering road projects. There should not be unnecessary cut in costs of crucial aspects of the roads especially in the designs to ensure they suit the topography of their location. Government officials should give closer supervision to ensure that the projects are delivered to specification.
Well planned drainages with necessary culverts and ditches at their proper locations are very crucial. This will help ensure that soapy, oily and chemical liquids released by different industries do not get into and destroy the tarred roads. All manholes and potholes should be adequately fixed within the shortest possible time. In fact, immediately they are opened.
But beyond these, the citizens also have a major role to play in ensuring that our roads last as long as they are expected. The practice of illegally channeling water into our roads should be discontinued. Many people still dump their refuse into the water channels thereby blocking them and letting flood that were supposed to flow through the drainages on the roads. The fact remains that floods make its path and may choose a path that will be dangerous to our environment.
It is yuletide. It is a regular sight to see people burning tires on tarred roads. This practice contributes greatly to the damage of our roads, opening of potholes and consequential expansion into manholes. Citizens should desist from this type of act. You must not wait for government to enforce what is right before you practice it. See doing the right thing as a civic responsibility that benefits you.
Written by ELDER OKAY UGWA
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