Work on pool to start in November

ETHEKWINI Municipality will commence rectification work on the Rachel Finlayson pool in November.

Head of Communications for the city, Tozi Mthethwa, responding to an article in last week’s Berea Mail concerning the additional costs and delays to the upgrading of the pool in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, said more than 80 per cent of the facilities for the Commonwealth Games already exist.

“The original tendered scope for the upgrade of the Rachel Finlayson Pool comprised of various interventions to mitigate or eliminate the significant amounts of daily water loss experienced at the pool,” she said in a statement to Berea Mail this week.

She said this comprised of repairs to cracks in the pool walls and floor, joint filling and sealing and replacement of defective pipework, including some minor structural modifications. In addition, a critical and significant aspect of the work involved replacement of the dark blue tiles, which was deemed to be a safety issue. Mthethwa said this contract completion was reached on 15 July.

“Due to fundamental structural changes required, after the tender had been awarded and contract commenced and in the interests of using the facility as a Commonwealth Games practice venue, the quantities associated with some measured works for concrete had increased to cover the additional instructed scope. Such work, relating to changes to the form of the pool structure, was logically required to be put in place in lieu of any finishing work that had been measured under the original contract. The contract authority under the original contract was utilised in a responsible and accountable manner to achieve partial completion towards the final product,” she said.

Mthetwa said the additional work on the pool was expected to start in November, but did not say when the work would be completed.

“The vast majority of all facilities including nine of the 10 core sporting codes are within the 2.5 kilometre radius making travelling in and round the area easy and convenient. The city’s state of readiness to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games was confirmed by a visit from the Commonwealth Games Federation’s Evaluation Commission who inspected and endorsed our venues,” she said.