It is an amazing recurrence! Every time there is a heavy shower of rain anywhere in Jamaica, potholes of a wide variety appear all over the roads, even those that were recently paved!

This gives any well-thinking and discerning Jamaican reason to assume that the quality of work was poor. When one compares roads built and maintained by the bauxite companies over these many years as well as by the Chinese in more recent times, it is fair to say that those roads built and maintained by Jamaican contractors remain the most fragile and pothole-riddled.

This begs the question, especially against the backdrop of Jamaican contractors now complaining about being left out of the highly touted Shared Prosperity Through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) multimillion-dollar road repair extravaganza.

Needless to say, politics and potholes have been intrinsically bound from time immemorial. Readers can recall one minister many years ago announcing with much gusto that Jamaica would be “Pothole-free by 2003!” Then there was that ignoble swipe taken by another politician referring to a certain pothole as “Portia’s pothole” — the “Portia” in that description being Jamaica’s first female prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller.

Of course, it is no secret that corruption is at the heart of this problem coupled with the lack of effective civil engineering applications. Indeed, many people who get contracts are usually highly favoured through their partisan affiliation. The million-dollar question is: Who really checks the qualifications and competence of these contractors?

It is no secret that cheap, shoddy workmanship has become the order of the day when it comes to government-contracted work. Cutting corners, using inferior material, avoiding professional input, and providing little supervision of subcontractors are part and parcel of how projects funded by the public purse are implemented and managed. Notwithstanding the vigilance of various oversight committees, the Jamaican taxpayer continues to be the victim of graft and corruption.

Despite various election campaign promises, neither the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) nor the People’s National Party (PNP) has sent the right signals to suggest that either is more serious about getting value for money when it comes to road construction and repairs. It is no secret that both parties, in one way or another, benefit from kickbacks with respect to government contracts. In this vein, roadworks continue to be one of the most lucrative of the various pork barrel exercises in the political arena.

Of course, it is more than a coincidence that there is always an upsurge in road repairs when local government and general elections are on the horizon. And based on recent activities and announcements by the ruling JLP Administration, it is clear that this corrupt scenario is about to take centre stage right across the island. Can Prime Minister Andrew Holness assure a sceptical nation this time round that there will be transparency and accountability, in terms of the awarding of contracts and the implementation of these roadworks in the various constituencies?

If it is that Jamaica is said to be one of the countries with most roads per square mile in the world, then it can be said that a large portion of our gross domestic product (GDP) is being expended in this area. In the meantime, now that we are in the rainy season as well as facing serious weather patterns that will emerge as a result of a burgeoning hurricane season, it is expected that many of our roads will be adversely affected at some point.

Another vexing aspect to the prevalence of pothole-riddled roads is the damage done to motor vehicles, particularly taxis and minibuses. Operators of these vehicles have to constantly use much of their income to deal with front-end damage and other repairs. Private motorists have also been complaining a great deal about losing their brand new tyres that are wrecked by some of these cavernous potholes, some of which appear overnight!

And to add insult to injury, navigating potholes can be rather hazardous at times, causing bodily harm and even death, not to mention wreckage of vehicles. The proliferation of potholes must undoubtedly affect the nation’s productivity, as too many hours are wasted on our roads because motorists have to slow down as they bob and weave through one pothole after another.

Drain cleaning and bushing, which are oftentimes referred to as “bollo work” given out at Christmastime as well as during election campaigns, is another travesty. Millions of dollars are expended, but at the end of the day, whenever it rains, flooding easily destroys the road surfaces because of poor drainage (kerb and channel) construction and design. The vexing question that must be asked of the National Works Agency (NWA) is: Are civil engineers assigned to all government-contracted roadworks? And if so: Who monitors them and their input? Are there really any meaningful checks and balances? What sanctions and penalties, if any, are in place to deal with these anomalies?

This recurring problem is akin to a national crisis that must be once and for all addressed by the relevant powers, starting with Prime Minister Holness and his Cabinet. A national protocol must be established along bipartisan lines as to how road repairs should be carried out, in terms of quality control, transparency, and accountability. Jamaica continues to feature very negatively on the Corruption Perceptions Index worldwide.

This is a most worrying trend and one suspects that even while much emphasis is being placed on tackling crime and violence, this issue of our pothole-riddled roads must also be seen as deserving of national attention and attacked on a united front. For too long our respective political leaders have collectively ignored this huge elephant in the room while paying only lip service when it suits them.

To put it bluntly, unless some meaningful and sustained efforts are made to deal with this perilous situation, it is safe to say potholes will continue to be the death of us in more way than one!

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full time in Jamaican media for the past 49 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.