You may have heard of the urban legend: that when you drop a piece of toast, it always falls butter side down, and makes a mess on the carpet. Have you also noticed that when you are returning to your car, laden with groceries and keys in hand, that the unlock button is always underneath – so you cant operate it without a big fumble?
Well, the opposition must feel like that sometimes. Whenever they pick up the order paper for House of Assembly meetings, they find their questions to the government have fallen to the bottom, and often don’t get asked or answered.
They are likely to get some answers this week, but not from the premier, who is overseas.
At a Third District meeting last week, the state of the unfinished roadwork by Manuel Reef was discussed. I was surprised to learn that the work was not being done by contractors – petty or otherwise – but by the Public Works Department. Since the PWD is a government department, that ought to mean continuity of work to completion.
However, it turns out that PWD does not have the labour and is employing labourers directly. It seems that cash flow is a problem, and when the labour does not get paid, they don’t work.
As for the progress of the work, why on earth did they take off the old surface before they were ready to resurface it? It obviously cannot be done until the kerbing and drainage has been completed. That has been largely inactive for weeks, although some work has been done since the public meeting. Meantime, when its dry, residents complain of dust, and when it is wetted, everybody’s cars get filthy. Is there no end in sight? One sometimes thinks that our government(s) couldn’t even organise a drinks party in a rum shop!
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