It is not good enough. The response to improving the condition of the damaged road in Fugalei is below par. By now, the situation must have been fixed.

The road in question is one of the main arterial roads that feed into the Apia township. Businesses and homes are along the road and in flooded areas, and the situation is getting worse right now.

It remains waterlogged because the waterways are clogged. They will stay that way until the authorities responsible wake-up and realise the seriousness of the issue. The potholes are getting bigger. Vehicles are being damaged and the reluctance by people to use the road is also impacting the businesses in the vicinity.

The closure of government offices has also resulted in the closure of some of the services provided by the assigned contractors. That is what it seems like. The temporary fill with loose gravel has not worked and the potholes have become bigger.

What should have been done? The authorities' first course of action would have been to find a way to drain the water causing the havoc. Then, the debris should have been removed to prevent future blockages.

This would have led to a dry road and allowed the contractors to patch up the road as it should have been.

What happened? There was inaction from the authorities to deal with the matter. Water remained on the road leading to potholes becoming craters. This has led to a major arterial road being almost inaccessible. Many transport services, taxis and buses are choosing to use alternative routes.

It has led to a situation that never should have been. The current administration will argue that the roads and the drainage were designed and approved by their predecessors. That is not acceptable. The government in power today comprises the people who were in power previously. They have known what is wrong with the infrastructure yet for almost four years nothing was done.

The current government was warned that their attention is solely on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and not on issues that need urgent attention. Included are the state of the national hospital, the power grid, the shortage of teachers, doctors and nurses and the need to focus on infrastructure.

Time has passed and it can not be brought back. What can be done is to focus on what needs to be done. It is clear that there needs to be a major overhaul of the infrastructure policy and redirecting priorities and budget allocations.

The Fugalei situation is a preview of what could go wrong in the future. The nation has the help of expertise from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, sister cities in China and as usual our traditional partners in Australia and New Zealand.

With the right approach, we can have an infrastructure master plan that will have us ready for growth for at least 30 years. The nation is growing. With it is the demand for urban centres and better-planned neighbourhoods.

We respect the fact that the government offices and staff are on a break but some situations require urgent action and this is one of them.

Let us deal with the one on hand for now and then get back with a plan for resilient infrastructure.