Something Doesn’t Work At Public Works | Editorial

By Kieron Murdoch | Opinion Contributor

We cannot understand why as we head into 2025 it takes so much for the authorities responsible for timely road repair and maintenance to actually address road faults in a timely manner. Neither can we understand why there are projects constantly left half done. What on earth is going on? We are sure that residents sometimes feel like we are living in the twilight zone, much as we do.

When you drive up Valley Road, for example, you will nowadays run over a major hump in the road created by recent works. The same is true of Fort Road near to the traffic light by the junction with Dickenson Bay Street. Are these the final product?

Near to the Gold Grove Primary School, shortly after the traffic light, there is an unpaved area of gravel across the road left by recent works. It has been there for weeks now just waiting for the rain to gradually wash out the gravel and dirt to create an even deeper and more dangerous obstruction. Is this the final product? Who is doing this nonsense with public money?

Why are there so many examples of half done, shoddily done or unfinished road works dotting the country? What exactly is the problem with starting and finishing a project sensibly? And why have we persisted in this fashion for the better part of half a century? We should not have to complain endlessly about basic things like this.

It is one thing to say that something cannot get done because resources are limited. It is another thing entirely to actually spend the resources but execute the work so poorly that you are bound to have to come back later and expend even more resources to rectify whatever was done poorly or left undone the first time. The country cannot function in this way. Where is the accountability?

Which Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Senators and Department Directors travel to work via helicopter? For those who do, we can perhaps assume that they do not travel on the same roads as we, the apparent plebeians. But for those who travel to and fro via car like the rest of us, do they not drive over the same obstructions, unaddressed problems and half finished works as the rest of us?

There is something fundamentally wrong with a country’s public works apparatus when we can look and see quite plainly with our own eyes how often works begin, are paused and are left unfinished. When did that become an acceptable standard? Who is paid for that? Do they work for the government or are they contracted?

If a contractor is given a project, is there someone qualified who works for the government who inspects what they have done? How is it conceivable for budgets to be approved year after year, and no one wishes to address the obvious inefficiencies and defects in the operations of Public Works, or any of their related works agencies or sub-contractors??

There are roads in this country in dire need of repaving and they tell us the funding has to be prioritised. Fine. Some roads are in dire need of repair so that potholes do not cause death. They tell us the resources are needed elsewhere. It’s rubbish, but okay. But what exactly is the excuse when you allocate and spend public resources for work and leave the work half-done so that it can ultimately be degraded and become more of an expense?

The works department and all related functions carried out by other agencies need a complete overhaul. If we had such a thing as the Parliamentary Select Committee of Works, Infrastructure and Housing, we might hope that they would execute such a task. Unfortunately, our parliamentary democracy has not gotten to the point yet where we can have real oversight from parliament of executive functions.

But surely, the executive itself must recognize there is a systemic problem here that needs to be corrected urgently. This is more than an issue of leadership or the culture in a given department. This is a deeply rooted culture of inefficiency, sloppy execution, and little to no accountability. It is a malignant presence in our public sector. It needs to be fixed.

About the writer:

Kieron Murdoch is an opinion contributor at antigua.news. He worked as a journalist and later as a radio presenter in Antigua and Barbuda for eight years, covering politics and governance especially. If you have an opinion on the issues raised in this editorial and you would like to submit a response by email to be considered for publication, please email [email protected].