A Theoretical Assessment of the Impacts of Poor Maintenance of Public Infrastructure

Abstract

The study examines previous literature on the impacts of poor maintenance of public infrastructure in the Kingdom of Eswatini. In the past two decades the kingdom of Eswatini has experienced a huge growth of public building development. Construction of new facilities alone is not enough but the most critical activities in public buildings is to provide adequate and proper maintenance for the structures to accomplish their intended purpose. It is worth noting that building maintenance prevents accumulated decay and deterioration, which is contributing to health concerns and reducing the profitability of occupants. Therefore, absence or poor performance of facility management in an institution is accompanied by negative impacts. Moreover, to correct these negative consequences a massive financial cost and worst severe financial loss would be generated to those institutions concerned. The study is conducted with reference to existing theoretical literature, published and unpublished research. The study is mainly a literature review on the impacts of poor maintenance of public infrastructure. One of the primary findings regarding the impact of poor building maintenance are: that it reduces the value of existing public buildings and it also increases budgets for untreated maintenance faults, increased costs for emergency repairs, insufficient provision and delivery of public services. The study explores the effects of poor maintenance of public infrastructure and presents a robust background on the theories of poor infrastructure maintenance. This study will enable the public facility management and the government at large to know the importance of maintaining a building.