Less knowledgeable and less financially interested? The politicians are the ones who make the ultimate decisions about these projects: whether maintenance will be done (by controlling the budget), whether a replacement will be done, etc. They're the MOST invested in the project, and should be held the most accountable. Why should decision-makers get to run away scot-free after their bad decisions wreak havoc?
They may take some of the decisions, but that doesn't make them knowledgeable or financially invested. How would a politician make money from a construction project? The company that engineered it does, sure, but the guy who commissioned it? He benefits from being in office.
