‘Flying gravel’ solution sought

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KUWAIT CITY, Dec 16: The problem of ‘flying gravel’ is still looking for a solution, and it is receiving attention from the man on the street on one hand and the concerned parties on the other, but it seems that there will be no solution in the short term despite the efforts to address it and the reasons for it, reports Al-Qabas daily.

As investigations continue on the new asphalt mixture that will be used in the recently signed contracts, observers confirmed that the current problem is greater than the potential of the Ministry of Public Works and the Public Authority for Roads and that it does not stop only at the stability limit on the asphalt mix.

What it needs is the establishment of a research body to closely follow up this issue. Informed sources talked about the widespread problem in recent years, despite the efforts to solve it and there are reports of a bigger problem in the form of manipulating contractors or lack of ministry employees. The sources explaining their view said all contracts signed starting in 2017 are estimated to have a five years warranty period for both internal roads and highways. Therefore, it is unreasonable for the contractor to accept fraud since he is aware that he is obliged to maintain the roads throughout all these years. Sources pointed out that exclusion of the hypothesis of corruption directly means a scientific problem that needs research from a neutral party, which is far from the three parties involved in the crisis — Ministry of Public Works, contractors and supplier of the material — the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation.

The sources pointed out that the Ministry of Public Works has already addressed Kuwait University to discuss the problem, but the university has set a 45 months period for research and the ministry considers this a huge period in light of the deterioration of the condition of roads and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has already been addressed to oversee the preparation of a new mix.

Sources added that there is an urgent need to involve KISR in researching the issue to the roots as a neutral body and to formally mandate it to supervise the preparation of an approved mix with the examination of all the materials used, especially the sulfur levels in the clay and follow them in different streets for several years.

Sources explained that this step is very important because of the need to make sure from the scientific point of view by taking into account the temperatures of asphalt at the required rates from the moment the materials leave the factories in addition to the proportion of materials used which should be accurate.

However, the sources pointed out that the old contracts have a warranty period of between one and five years and therefore the contractor is responsible for maintenance throughout that period.

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