Faced with countless potholes on his daily route, Saad Tekiout decided to take matters into his own hands.
The Montrealer has been going around the city repairing potholes – on his own dime and time. He says in the past month, he’s repaired two to three potholes a day.
“I was just getting some flat in my tire. My friend getting the same thing,” Tekiout, who’s the owner of Marquize Paysagement, told CityNews.
“We take the same road daily. So why I need to wait for someone to fix it if I can fix it myself? I know how to do it, so I can do it.”
A social media video of Tekiout repairing a pothole and asking viewers to send him the addresses of other potholes recently went viral.
“I got hundreds of requests. I put them in priority, the bigger, and depend who’s calling, if it’s someone old, if it’s someone younger. So I go like this.
“I do this as a human because I think of other humans.”
A post shared by Saad tekiout (@marquize.7)
The video was even seen by Montreal’s mayor, who appeared to ask Tekiout to stand down.
“Thank you for the initiative, truly. What you’re doing is appreciated, but it’s not your responsibility (or your team’s) to fill the potholes yourselves,” Martinez Ferrada wrote on Instagram.
“We understand the frustration, especially given the state of the streets inherited from the previous administration. For our part, our teams are working flat out to speed up repairs throughout the city.”
While Montrealers who spoke to CityNews were mixed about Tekiout’s initiative, they agreed it was a bad look for the City of Montreal.
“If a citizen can take it upon themselves to fix it, why can’t the city do that?” said Aligo Vatali.
“It’s funny, but sad at the same time because it’s not our job to fix it.,” said Joseph Zeidan. “But I mean, I feel like if he’s doing it, I’m sure a lot of people will help him too. So hit us up and we’ll be happy to help.”
“It’s not his responsibility,” added Zakaria Mededjel. “So, thank you, citizen, but it’s up to the city to deal with this.”
Since Tekiout’s video went viral, a paving company in Montreal has stepped up and also did pothole repair for free in Lachine on Tuesday morning.
“What inspired me was that I’ve seen there’s a problem with the potholes,” said Anthony Khan, the owner of Pavage Milan. “I’m in the business. I have the equipment to do the proper work. Sometimes we’re left over with leftover asphalt from our day. Two, three, four, five tons. We’re able to put them in the potholes and fix them. No problem, free of charge. But I do want to work getting city contracts also.”
Tekiout says the more the merrier.
“My goal is to finish all Montreal, and I think I can do it,” he said. “If there are some people that they want to join me, they are welcome.”
