Depreciation

Since our honourable assembley is in recess, I have had very few reasons to become angry recently. So instead of venting anger, maybe I can be a bit more constructive in my thoughts than usual.

As with anything in life, you have to sacrifice something in order to gain something else. It is one of the basic laws of economics. It is just that we as Liberians have to learn to abide by this.

Normally, in Liberia, when a building is erected, it usually stands as erected for the rest of its life. For some reason, we tend not to spend a cent on maintainence because we feel that we are smart and can therefore "save" or not waste funds. In reality, every penny not spent on maintainence is depreciation. Do we care? Apparently not. This worried me in the eighties when the Samuel Kanyon Doe stadium was built. The first thing that hit me that day I visited was "How long will these toilets flush?" I was just a boy, but for some reason I was wondering what kind of a maintainence budget the place had. But that is just me.

Today with the stadium renovated to brand new, I cannot help but wonder again. This is just one case. Now with major road projects initiated, I still wonder if anyone ever thought about budgeting funds for future maintainence of these. And if they have thought about it, will the funds really go towards their intended purpose.

I just have to say bridges, harbours, sewage systems, government buildings whatever. Sure, they will be rebuilt to standard. But what happens after that?

Can we change the way we have done things in the past?