Quality of Roads

Last week I went to UTM Skudai for my weekly lecture and also attended a meeting for deciding the winner for the UTM AKNC (VC Quality Award). On the way from Senai to Persada, where the meeting took place, the airport taxi driver (a Chinese about my age) talked about why flash flood occur in JB. He gave a laymen's reasoning on why it occurs. He complained on how small the size/width of the drains are, and also he emphasised in his broken Malay that 'rumah makin banyak buat tapi itu longkang sama saja - kasi besar/kasi dalam lah) literally translated as -more houses are being built (around JB there are many housing estates), but the drain are still of the same (size) - why don't make it bigger/deeper. I thought to myself, even this 'taxi driver' can think of how to resolve the problems. I just cannot understand why those who have been paid to do the job to think such as the engineer/s and planners at local council, contractors, consultants/architects cannot think like this taxi driver. I guess people are so tight up with their busy schedule that they don't solve these problems faced by the people, and mind you it is our own people, i.e. Malaysians that we are going to help at the end of the day.
Then how does it relate to quality. Well, I have always said that quality of construction can begin right from design step. During the design and planning stage, those responsible, be it technical peole and policy makers, must put the people's interest first, and MUST pro-activley design for the future use, not just for immediate solutions. THINK ABOUT IT.
I have not talked about poorly maintained drains - all clogged up with rubbish and sand. Don't tell me the taxpayer will have to clear the stucked drain by himself, is it not the job of the local municipal to check and rectify these drains. DO YOUR JOB MEN.