The government is not responsible for all roads | Tech Reddy

Fraser

Third District Representative Julian Fraser sought to set the record straight by reminding residents that roads on private property are not the government’s responsibility.

Fraser said that the government has no responsibility to maintain these roads, which he called “roads of the domain”.

But he said some of his constituents have criticized him for not maintaining these estate roads that are sometimes dangerous for people who use them.

“What happens is: some of the owners undermine the roads and the roads collapse. When that happens, they need a retaining wall. As I said, the road does not belong to the people who own the plot, it belongs to the people who subdivide the estate – it’s a private road. But again, it’s a danger to motorists when the road collapses,” explained Fraser.

He said that he used to maintain roads in his constituency in the past only to ensure the safety and comfort of the people who have to use them. But he said this has led many to believe that these roads are the government’s responsibility.

“But the truth of the matter is, it is a state road. It is not a government road – it belongs to the estate. The government has no obligation other than the fact that, as a good representative, that he loves his constituents, he gets in there and paves the way,” Fraser clarified.

The government must intervene

While setting the record straight for residents, Fraser expressed that although these roads are not the government’s responsibility, lawmakers should step in and build retaining walls since the problem will persist if the state does not intervene . But he lamented the fact that he is not able to collaborate with the Ministry of Finance to repair the roads as he was able to do in the past. He said that this is because the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry have caused changes in the way taxpayers’ money is spent and, therefore, make it difficult for the government to help people.

“There was a time – 10 years ago maybe – a representative of the district could find a way between the Ministry of Finance to get the finances to erect that wall (network). But now today things are so different. What should we do do? I’m sure this happens in more than one district,” Fraser said.

He continued: “We cannot allow our citizens to live their lives in danger. If we allow that, we may as well go home because what we are saying is that the government is powerless. We have to find a collective way. It is not a Third District issue, it’s a territory issue. And it goes right back to the Minister of Finance,” Fraser said.