A short thought on sustainable investments…

During a power blackout last week, one of my Kenyan co-workers asked me how we dealt with those things  (I must have made a very bad impression in handling it obviously). When I told her that we didn't have blackouts where I come from (unless there is a big natural disaster), she wanted to know how that was possible. I said: "It's because we invest a lot of money in maintenance".

Over the past two weeks, one of the most common word I heard from locals when they talk about their infrastructure, politics, or anything else "official", was THIEFS. One shouldn't be surprised about it, I guess. But it shows that if one wants to provide infrastructure and services, the long term view is pivotal. Leaving the maintenance to a system known to be limited in its ability to build the goods & services might not be the right way… I'm not sure if this is a universal lesson though. I'm keen to see if there is other experiences out there that prove me wrong.

One thing I am sure about though, is that maintenance is the key to sustainable development - whether this is personal-, economical-, infrastructure-, or any other form of development. This is easy to forget and you're only reminded when the "power goes out".