Although I am an expatriate working in Kuala Lumpur I have to add my voice to the growing number of complaints about the new Damansara toll road as I am one of those who have to use it every day.

Unlike most of the complaints from Malaysian readers, mine is not about objecting to paying toll for an improved road network. The reality is that it is almost impossible for any government to keep up with the demand and fund highways and road systems that facilitate the free flow of traffic.

The other reality is that soil conditions in Malaysia are such that constructing decent roads is more technically complex and costly that most people realise. Short of raising personal taxes, funding such projects through the collection of tolls is about the only way that the government can continue to improve the country's road system.

However, what I do object to is paying a high fee for a very poor service. The Damansara toll road has been poorly designed and badly constructed. It is a cheap job and as such only warrants cheap tolls.

The design of the roads and bridges is barely able to meet current traffic demands. No provisions have been made for future demands. There is not a straight piece of concrete along the entire length of the highway. Manholes do not correspond with road levels and are either too high or too low.

The bridge structures comprise at least 50 differant colours of grey and not one is properly finished off. The finishing on the bridges at the Bangsar and Federal Highway exits are positively disgusting. How any professional engineer can accept such workmanship, never mind consider lighting up such an ugly sight, is beyond my comprehension.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's ambition of Malaysia becoming a developed nation by 2020 will never be reached if those professionals tasked with implementing the vision today do not understand that it means insisting on, and achieving, developed-nation levels of professionalism in their work.

Instead being a centrepiece of Kuala Lumpur's highway system in 2020, the Damansara highway is certain to be an ugly, jammed-up mess. Those responsible for this should first be obliged to clean up their mess before expecting the public to pay for it.