Premier Brad Wall had plenty of good to say about southeast Saskatchewan during visits to the region last year.

When he was in Weyburn for the Saskatchewan Oil and Gas Show in June of 2009, he repeatedly said thank you to the oil industry for their contributions to Saskatchewan’s economy and workforce.

And his message when he was in Estevan last September was simple: “The province owes much to you.”

Evidently the province’s “IOU” to southeast Saskatchewan doesn’t extend to safe, well-maintained highways throughout the region. There are too many decrepit, dangerous highways in a region the region that has been Saskatchewan’s Golden Goose.

Yes, the province has done a good job of restoring several highways. There is relatively fresh asphalt on many parts of Highways 13, 33, 39 and 361. Much of Highway 18 from Estevan to the Manitoba border will be resurfaced in the next few years.

And they were pro-active to resurface Highway 47 south of Stoughton once the number of heavy trucks soared.

But they have not addressed Highway 18 from Estevan to Lake Alma, Highway 35 from Weyburn to Oungre, Highway 47 south of Estevan or Highway 318 from Carnduff to Alida.

All four highways are riddled with potholes. None of them appear on the Ministry of Highways five-year plan. And while that doesn’t mean they won’t get done before 2015, it means they probably aren’t a high priority for the government. Those highways also suffer from a rising number of heavy trucks, who need to use those highways to deliver services to the oilfield.

So those highways, and others in the region that are crumbling, will continue to deteriorate.

Southeast Saskatchewan residents have other reasons to question whether they’re getting a full return on all that they provide to the province. There isn’t a regional hospital, even though the Sun Country Health Region has two cities, a growing population and a high number of transient workers.

This is not meant as a rebuke of the MLAs – Estevan’s Doreen Eagles, Cannington’s Dan D’Autremont and Weyburn/Big Muddy’s Dustin Duncan – who serve the far southeast corner. For the most part, they do a good job of representing their constituents’ needs and articulating the concerns of their people. A lot has happened for recreation facilities, health care venues and schools.

And it probably is idealistic to expect that southeast Saskatchewan would receive a full reward for all it has given to the province in the last five years. After all, every other region in Saskatchewan has many pressing needs for roads, education and health care. You can’t base funding decisions solely on an ability to contribute to the economy.

But it would be nice to see this region receive a little bit more in return for all it has done for Saskatchewan.