Roads in disrepair

Roads in disrepair

From Media Indonesia

Asphalt is now abundantly available in Indonesia. Road construction experts are also easily available in this country. Unfortunately, after 58 years of independence, roads on the outskirts of Jakarta and in other cities outside of Java are still in poor repair. Indeed, some roads have been repaired but the repairs last only for a short time. When the rainy season comes, the roads are again in disrepair.

The reason is that the asphalt layer for these paved roads is very thin. The roads that were built in 1960s, 1970s and 1980s are still in good condition because the roadmakers were quite honest and were willing to maintain the good quality of the roads.

Ironically, today we import asphalt because, so it is claimed, we need good-quality asphalt. Given the generally poor condition of the roads in this country, asphalt imports should be stopped and the money be spent on other more useful purposes.

Although a lot of progress has been made in road construction theories, these theories will be of little use as long as road construction is not up to the required standards.

PUDYANTO S. Jakarta