Now that we are effectively dealing with potholes in the greater Suva and Nasinu areas, we have a duty to acknowledge the effort.
To a certain extent though, we have to point out, potholes aren’t the only issues commuters and drivers are upset about these days in some of our urban centres.
It is a concern, but so is the amount of time spent on our roads commuting to and from work daily.
If you throw in the frustrations of people living along the Suva-Nausori corridor, then you’ve got to factor in heavy traffic jams that slowly make their way along quite a lengthy stretch of the highway.
We aren’t talking about spending half an hour either on the road.
You’ve just got to accept that commuters can spend more than the expected time to travel from point A to point B most mornings.
For instance, a driver living in Nausori now makes it his business to leave home before 5.30am to get to the Capital City before 6.30am, taking one hour to get there, travelling a distance of around 20km one way which should normally take a little over half an hour to about 40 minutes or so.
He has been forced to travel early daily to beat the traffic jams which he says builds up from Nakasi and gets worse near the Laqere bridge.
Another gentleman has to leave Nakasi by bus before 7am to get to work in Suva before 8.30am every day, a trip that roughly should take about 20 minutes or so, to make over about 11km.
On a recent trip he twitted his times and destinations.
He caught a bus at Nakasi at 6.58am; arrived at Makoi at 7.12am; reached Laqere bridge at 7.20am; reached Valelevu at 7.36am; arrived at Centrepoint at 8am; reached Nabua at 8.09am and arrived at the Suva bus station at 8.20am.
It’s understandably an issue that keeps popping up when road woes are raised.
School has started, and with it comes that niggling traffic jam.
It’s a nightmare that does not seem to end.
It’s no laughing matter that thousands of commuters find themselves stuck in heavy traffic daily in the Capital City.
As police pointsmen and women do their best to ease the frustrations, and they are doing great work, the situation is actually compounded by very bad roads leading into the city.
Yesterday, for instance, around 8am, at Centrepoint outside Suva, workers started digging up the main road, oblivious to the frustration and anger of drivers and commuters stuck in heavy traffic, and by now being forced on to one lane.
It’s a frustrating scenario for many commuters and especially vehicle owners.
This is the harsh reality of driving and commuting to and from work and school in the Capital City.
You’ve got to travel on roads in and around the city to understand what regular commuters are on about.
Then there are the inconsiderate drivers trying to beat the queue daily.
We have the base for frustrating mornings. The powers that be have a duty to come up with solutions.
They must! In the meantime we acknowledge the efforts of the police officers doing point duty every morning. We say thank you.
