IN May this year we raised the issue of potholes around the Capital City.
In fact, it was good to see workers out in force filling them up in roads leading up to Suva.
Yesterday, workmen were seen filling up the crater-like potholes that were scattered in some of the capital’s major roads.
It is difficult though to get over the fact that we have some of the bumpiest roads at the moment in Suva.
The deplorable state of some of these roads is shocking.
Ratu Mara Rd at Nabua in Suva, parts of Fletcher Rd, Grantham Rd and Milverton Rd are bone-rattling.
They stretch suspension systems to the limit.
They take a shot at the wheel alignment and inch out rattles in the body of the vehicle.
Workmen have started to fill up potholes in parts of Vesivesi Rd and Tivi Place, Nokonoko Rd and parts of Ratu Dovi Rd in Nasinu.
It offers some relief for drivers who had been forced to step on the brakes over weeks, dodging potholes and trying to avoid accidents.
Potholes can be a drain on the pockets of vehicle owners.
It hits the hardest on the suspension systems of vehicles and tyres, and does have a dangerous impact on road safety as drivers sometimes are distracted when trying to avoid some of the crater-like potholes.
They can also have an impact on the body, the jolts from sudden dips into large potholes having a bone jarring effect.
It is nightmare for vehicle owners already loaded with fuel and other associated vehicle costs.
Potholes certainly don’t inspire confidence on this section of our infrastructure.
Covering the potholes, at least the ones that can be, does have a ripple effect on reassuring the mind that all is not lost.
Increasingly we are egged on by the demand to reach our destinations on time.
We are driven by the need to embrace time, and technology may not be able to meet our needs right now, to manoeuvre our way through shortcuts.
In May, Fiji Roads Authority (FRA) chief executive officer Jonathan Moore attributed the deterioration of roads in many areas to prolonged periods of heavy rain.
“In many locations the deterioration is so progressed that we can no longer maintain the serviceable road through pothole repairs, and we will now have to carry out sectional carriageway repairs,” he said.
Acknowledgment is because of the response by the authorities to address some shortfalls and fix some of those roads.
At least where they can, which is a start!
Otherwise we’d all be on a slow and bumpy ride to our destinations daily.
Less bumps, rattle and knocks would be a whole lot better though!
