Chemical almost ruins resident’s property

A STRANGE liquid was noticed by Lena on November 1, just days after construction workers had started drilling the land and breaking rock in order to be able to lay optic fibre cables on the corners of Endymion and Eynham roads in Mondeor, outside the property of Dr Janice Joseph where Lena and her family reside at a cottage behind the practice.

When a brown chemical started to creep through underneath the fence, covering parts of her garden, she feared the worst, not only for her plants but her little dogs as well.

“I couldn’t imagine losing the little white dog, it’s my baby,” said Lena Lucas referring to one of her dogs who she says would often wander to the affected spots with another of her dogs curious about what the liquid was.

“It was actually the people who were drilling holes that we were told were responsible for cleaning up the mess that was caused by this chemical. We were told that this leakage has a chemical in it which is why it dries up like paint on top,” explained Lena.

Reportedly, the property had been without electricity for weeks due to problems with a meter which is when City Power came to inspect the cause, a visit which was followed by the construction.

Grass on the property, started to whither and plants died as soon as the chemical reached the soil but owner of Exe Pirates Horizontal Drilling, Merinda Scheepers revealed that the chemical used to soften rock to enable drilling was actually environmentally friendly.

It was long after construction had wrapped up that the supervisor of the contractors, Daan Esteruizen, sent Molle Radebe to repair the damage that had been caused by the rock breaking chemical.

Having promised Lena that the chemical would be drained outside the property as well as cleaned up inside where it had seeped through on November 4, Molle Radebe arrived to repair the garden on Thursday November 7.

“I was told that I would have this lovely man for two days and I am very satisfied with his work so far, he’s really doing a great job,” said a happy Lena.

Although the flower seeds had to be taken out as they were already damaged, Lena said that she wouldn’t be claiming the money lost as there was no use crying over spilt milk.