BY AILEEN MURPHY
Potholes, uneven surfaces, and crumbling roads leave motorists in Fermanagh seeing red. And it was the lack of money spent on maintaining roads in the County which was debated in the Assembly Chamber on Monday afternoon.
The SDLP member for the area, Tommy Gallagher raised the issue, stating that, "due to heavy reliance on cars, especially in Fermanagh, the state of the roads is a major issue for local communities."
He went on: "Over the past 10 years, the condition of the roads has deteriorated badly. I refer to the Department for Regional Development's (DRD) figures for recent years which show that spending on structural maintenance in Fermanagh in the financial year 2003-04 was £3.48 million. "In 2005, it was down to £2.4million. In 2006, it was down to £2.05 million. In 2007, it was £2.16 million. In 2008, it was £2.14 million.
"Although there had been a steady decline in spending throughout those years, there was a marked drop in the most recent financial year, which ended in March 2009 when the figure was down to £1.49 million."
He explained that from 2002 until 2008 the average annual spend on the roads was more than £2.4 million. Now it is less than £1.5 million. "That is a 40% reduction which the area simply cannot sustain," the MLA said.
Mr Gallagher told the Assembly the issue for rural communities was not just about access to employment, but also to health services, hospital services, education facilities, banks and post officers.
And, he earned: "There is growing anger and frustration among local people about the decline in the state of the roads. They are angry that the issue, which is so important to many people, does not get the attention that it deserves from the Department.
"Unrepaired potholes are a common cause of serious damage to new and old vehicles. On almost a weekly basis, I receive a complaint in my office about a car that has hit a pothole or a rut in a road," he said.
"The Department's failure to maintain rural roads is an example of a policy that is penny wise and pound foolish. The cost of repairing roads that have fallen into disrepair will be a much greater strain on the public purse. What is more importance is that the roads are dangerous and the rate of accidents and deaths, as has been clearly stated in several reports, is higher than average in border areas."
Concluding, Mr Gallagher told the Assembly: "Road users in Fermanagh and South Tyrone contribute to the regional rate and they pay their motor taxes; we are therefore entitled to have roads that are well maintained and safe for all who use them."
The motion was supported by other MLA's from the constituency, with Maurice Morrow, Michelle Gildernew, Tom Elliott and Gerry McHugh all addressing the Assembly on the matter.
Lord Morrow, DUP, said: "Those of us who come from the west are accused by our colleagues of being whingers, but, at times, we whinge correctly. There is a perception that the west does not get its fair share in the allocation of funding and, therefore, the whinge will continue until we are content that we are getting our fair share."
Ms Gildernew, Sinn Féin explained: "The fact is the roads infrastructure in the past was inadequate, so that now we are trying to fix roads that were built on bog and are always going to be difficult to maintain to any kind of standard, Notwithstanding that, maintenance still has to be done, and it must be done throughout Fermanagh and South Tyrone for the benefit of rural road users who are travelling throughout the constituency or who live in it."
Mr Elliott, UUP, recalled the Bain Report on the decentralisation of jobs did not recommend the decentralising of jobs to Enniskillen because of its poor infrastructure.
"Roads are a key factor in that. I would not like to think that we in the west will be discriminated against because of poor road infrastructure," he added. "There is a crying need for additional road spend."
Independent member, Gerry McHugh asked: "Are we expected to lower our expectations of the type or quality of road surfaces on which people are driving? People have very expensive cars nowadays, they are not driving the old bangers they did 20 years ago - therefore they expect better," he said. "In the winter when the roads are wet, it is not possible to see the potholes until they are over them and the damage has been done."
Responding to the matters raised, the Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy accepted the figures for funding put forward by Tommy Gallagher.
"The figures speak for themselves. We do not have enough money in the structural maintenance budget. It we had more, we could do more. I look forward to support from Members when these debates, particularly the Budget debates, come up again.
"At that stage, all the support and advice that I get throughout the year about what we should be spending can be translated into action if Members vote for greater allocations to the Roads Service budget."
