20.FEB.09

EDITOR: A pothole jumped out and grabbed my front tire and as I heard my mudguard crack, I wondered why some potholes never seem to get fixed?{{more}}

I applaud the efforts of villagers that mix mortar and pour it into the potholes (even though the mortar doesn’t gel well with the rest of the road), and I cringe at those who choose to put a big stone in the hole to ‘mark the spot’ but instead either burst your tyre or scrape your undercarriage.

The conclusion is that the relevant authorities don’t know where the potholes are. Maybe their car glass has really dark tint and their wheels have incredible shocks, so they never notice the potholes. And since most of us who are affected don’t bother to call in and complain directly, nothing gets done.

So I want to throw out a challenge to Vincentians, and I am hoping that the newspapers will assist us with this venture (as a public service). I suggest that everybody take pictures of the worst potholes you come across and send them to the newspapers. Make sure that each picture says exactly where the pothole is located.

The newspapers could then either do a full page spread entitled “Potholes Of St.Vincent” showing a collection of the sent photos or separate them into a “Pothole of the Week” featuring a different pothole every week.

If you were to send them to the Ministry, they could easily say that they did not receive them, but surely, with the wide reading audience both here and abroad and with explicit directions, the authorities would be hard-pressed to plead ignorance and maybe even shamed into rectifying the problem.

I already have three potholes to photograph as soon as the newspapers indicate their willingness to help us. How many do you have?

Lisa