KUKUM Highway went under the water again yesterday.
This came after the heavy downpour on Tuesday night. Honiara woke up to a road that virtually disappeared under the water.
This is not the first time the Kukum area has been flooded.
It’s an old story. And a sad one, too!
Sad because the problem was not due to poor drainage, but our bad attitude and neglect by the government.
The road’s drainage was designed to cater for run-off from the rain.
But as we again witnessed yesterday, the drainage was blocked by plastic bags and other wastes our people carelessly threw around.
Most of these wastes are from residents living further up the Kukum area.
And because the Ministry of Infrastructure Development hardly clean up the drains, we continue to have the highway flooded.
If the situation is not addressed, the surface of the road will be compromised.
People need to know that their litter will end up in the drain, consequently blocking it.
And with lack of regular and scheduled maintenance on the road, the problem will persist.
Japanese engineers who built the road designed its surface to last up to 20 years.
The road was barely three years after the Japanese Government handed over the facility in 2018.
Yet, it appeared we are incapable of looking after it.
The road was built to the highest level of civil engineering one could find anywhere in the world.
It was a fine product when Japan handed it over to the Government.
Three years on, lack of maintenance and negligence on the part of the Government was already evident.
When will the flooding stop?
And where is the minister for MID?
