DEAR Editor,-
Commercial Road in Umtentweni has recently been resurfaced by Margate Construction, who I understand has advised that the job carries a minimum seven-year guarantee. Of all the road resurfacing and repair jobs I have seen on the South Coast in the last few years, this is without a doubt the best job so far. And from various reports I have read, their quotation was substantially lower than their competitors.
A few years ago I counted a minimum of 120 potholes in the road in which we live. It sounds like an exaggeration, but it is not! A contractor repaired most of the holes, but within less than a year many of the repaired holes had broken up and were as bad, if not worse than before.
Where is the accountability? Do municipal and governmental contracts with road repair companies have clauses that specify guarantee periods on each and every repair? This should be an automatic clause in every contract with regards to pothole repairs.
The solution is simple – there should be photographs depicting ‘before and after’ as proof. Today, with digital cameras, it does not cost a cent to take photographs and keep them preserved on a flashdrive. Therefore, if a repair has been done, but breaks up within the guarantee period, the contractor should be recalled to repair the pothole at their own cost, with a time frame within which the repairs must be done.
I can guarantee that if this was the case, 90 percent of the jobs would be done correctly first time round and would save ratepayers millions in duplicate contractor payments, as well as save money on tyre and rim repairs.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Tweni
