Frustrated Jet Park businesses ready to move out of Ekurhuleni

Members of the Jet Park Business Precinct are threatening to move their businesses elsewhere if the Ekurhuleni metro continues to turn a blind eye to their service delivery grievances.

The precinct, which has been in existence since 2008, has members from businesses across the area and acts as a watchdog against crime and service delivery related matters.

According to chairperson Destiny Elske, they are tired of the poor infrastructure, potholes, electricity and sewerage problems, and many other council issues, which plague Jet Park.

“We have been raising our concerns for the past 10 years and nothing has been done,” Elske said.

“This includes things like the state of Jet Park Road, which is very poor and full of potholes, and a manhole cover which clearly connects to a sewer line and has been overflowing for days now.

“It seems that repeatedly reporting these issues and getting reference numbers from Ekurhuleni acknowledging the problem is not enough.

“The roads throughout the area are riddled with potholes and the area around the train station is a death trap for pedestrians as there is no pavement to walk on. To avoid the mud, pedestrians walk on the side of the road, which is not safe.”

• Excuses

Elske added that Jet Park has experienced many and ongoing unplanned power outages which lead to financial losses for businesses.

One business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said if their machines are busy cutting at the time the power goes off, they have to scrap the job in the machine. There is also the cost of broken tools that need replacing.

“The lost machine time is affecting our monthly targets; customers are becoming annoyed and we are running out of credible excuses,” the business owner said.

Elske said the Jet Park Business Precinct needs to be informed prior to any outages in the area and given a clear indication by the metro as to when the electricity will be restored.

Another business owner, Andy Learmont, said the stormwater drains in Jet Park are full of dirt which causes flooding during the rainy season.

“A few weeks ago we had problems with sewage spills which posed a health risk to our staff,” Learmont said.

“We, the businesses of Jet Park, are being neglected when we are actually generating money for Ekurhuleni.”

Elske said if the metro doesn’t start to take their grievances seriously, the future prospects for business growth in Jet Park will be slim.

“This will also result in job losses, which is already a very serious and real issue.

“We are at a point where, if the effluent keeps flowing, the work will not and then Ekurhuleni and all of us will be in trouble.”

The Jet Park Business Precinct is calling on the metro to conduct general maintenance, including the fixing of roads, grass and tree cutting and painting of road surfaces, as a matter of urgency.

The Advertiser is waiting for comment from the metro.

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