Pereira Coutinho protests dangerous roads

Poor quality roads are damaging vehicles and potentially causing accidents, claimed lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho when he spoke at the Legislative Assembly late last week.

Pereira Coutinho cited problems such as bad asphalt, potholes, and uneven manhole covers.

According to the lawmaker, his office is receiving a growing number of residents’ complaints about vehicle damage, as well as criticism about a lack of accountability for the problem.

“Excluding the Guia Circuit section, most of the streets are poorly asphalted and very uneven, causing bumps that constitute a daily danger for motorcyclists and car drivers,” he said.

“The collapse of the asphalt coating on streets is a daily occurrence, and worsens after rain, most likely due to the use of poor-quality asphalt material. Just one rain shower can cause the asphalt to disappear and potholes to appear.”

“Potholes on public roads cause enormous inconvenience to buses and cars and are a constant danger to motorcyclists who can be ‘swallowed’ by big holes hidden by rainwater.”

“The damage can range from harm to the vehicle’s suspension, wheels and tires, up to [causing] collisions and serious injuries.”

Pereira Coutinho also noted there was no explanation as to why Macau has so many metal covers on its roads.

“Some [are] at a very short distance from each other with almost all of them not level with the road surface.”

The lawmaker urged the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to conduct more thorough inspections during road maintenance and resurfacing, which he said, at the moment, “is a disaster, with covers broken for several months without anyone taking an interest in solving the matter.”

He said drivers, riders and pedestrians who submitted formal complaints to the IAM after suffering losses due to poor quality public roads should be compensated by the services responsible for maintaining roads.