Our roads used to be smooth and not bumpy, even drawing praise from Malaysian friends who condemn their roads in their country for being full of potholes and the general poor upkeep.
But look at the terrible condition of our roads now. Almost every road in Singapore from Pasir Ris to Bukit Timah to Yio Chu Kang is being dug up for one reason or the other. Even roads in private estates are being dug up.
I think road users are annoyed. Why all the sudden need to dig up practically every road? Is this related to the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with India? Under the Agreement Singapore is obliged to open its door to certain employment opportunities for Indian nationals.
In the view of many road users who are irritated by the endless road works, day and night, this is why we see this digging up of roads everywhere. After such works, another team will come to pave the roads.
Now that’s not the end of the story.
Weeks or months down the road, the same stretch of road will be dug up again and the whole process repeats itself. All this ceaseless roadworks annoy road users no end because they cause obstruction and congestion.
Naturally the ones who are not complaining are the contractors. Why is there no coordination between the government departments concerned and organisations like the telcos, power companies and property developers? I can understand it if it’s the result of an MRT construction. Every day you wake up to yet another case of road-digging activity.
The result of all this digging is that we have the worst roads in the region.
The intriguing question is how much taxpayers money is being squandered on this roadworks. Also, are these roadworks really necessary or merely to create work for foreigners?
HARDY