THE EDITOR: On a recent evening, while driving home along the Tabaquite main road, I had to avert a collision due to a driver trying to dodge a pothole. Thankful for speared life, I came home, settled in and picked up the newspaper to have a read with my afternoon coffee. I came across an article regarding the Ministry of Works and Transport setting aside extra funding for much-needed road repairs.

For years the people of this area have lobbied for better road conditions so I must say this finally sounds like a progressive move for the Government to address a day-to-day problem that requires immediate attention and I give credit to the minister and his staff for finally bringing this to the forefront.

Without question, repairing all the nation's roads to a satisfactory condition will be an expensive and timely project and the Ministry of Works and Transport cannot do it alone. This needs to be a collaborative effort with other agencies, especially WASA.

Quite often, our roads are plagued with numerous water leaks and related deteriorating road conditions caused primarily by WASA's failure to carry out timely and effective repair works. Each pothole seems to be caused by a ruptured pipeline that destabilises the surface of the road.

While WASA must get its act together and support the ministry, drivers also have to take some responsibility. Those overloaded trucks driving along our secondary roads should use the main roads. Those roads were built for such purpose and can accommodate the higher loads.

I can only say that as a retired taxi driver still using the roadways, maybe more than I should at my age, I heartily support this endeavour of dedicated road repairs. I'm sure there are other expensive road projects in the queue, such as the completion of various highways, but it's smaller projects like this that have top priority in my view.

It's the little things that make the big things. Fix the smaller roads first! Those are the roads we all need to pass on to get home.

SURESH BALLIRAM

Tabaquite