Beachfront woes continue ahead of festive season
Councillor Nicole Graham said work still hasn't started on the Rachel Finlayson Pool, despite the municipality saying it would go ahead.
WITH the festive season fast approaching, Councillor Nicole Graham has expressed her concern again for the delay in work on the The Rachel Finlayson Pool, as well as other issues at the Durban beachfront.
According to Graham, a visit to the site recently indicated that work had not resumed as promised by city spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa in previous media articles. Graham said the site is currently an eyesore, with no indication that the situation will improve before the tourist season gets underway. “This is in addition to the money already spent on the pool after dark tiles were used and needed to be changed in 2015 because they made it difficult for lifeguards to see swimmers under the water,” she said.
Graham put a question to council in September regarding the pool upgrade, which revealed the upgrade of the Rachel Finlayson Pool on the Durban beachfront would run six months over the projected completion date and cost an additional R2.5 million. The reasons cited for this were ‘structural issues’ with the pool, as well as the fact that the planned pool design did not comply with standards required for the Commonwealth Games.
“The project is now estimated to be complete around March 2017, which means it will be under construction during our peak tourist season. No explanation was given as to why the site is currently abandoned, with no work taking place.This has been confirmed by a number of visits to the site,” said Graham.
Another issue which Graham has become aware of is a restaurant site on the Durban beachfront, built during the 2010 World Cup upgrades, which is set to remain vacant for a sixth consecutive festive season.
“In 2013, the estimated cost of the monthly maintenence and securing these buildings was R64 000. At this figure, these buildings have brought the city no revenue but cost almost R5 million to the public purse while they have been vacant. Although two of the buildings have been occupied this past year, one still stands empty. These valuable municipal assets should be attracting tourists and much-needed revenue to our city, but instead have been a financial burden to ratepayers. It’s incomprehensible how this issue is still not solved, six years after the fact,” she said.
Graham said work on several of the piers also seems unfinished with the sites looking abandoned.
