End in sight for halted Westville upgrade
There's high hopes that the halted Westville upgrade will be completed early next year.
THERE is light at the end of the tunnel for those Westville residents frustrated with the delays in the completion of the Westville central business district (CBD).
DA PR councillor for Westville, Warren Burne, said the completion of the Westville CBD upgrade will come to an end within the first few months of 2015.
Burne, who has been keeping regular contact with the municipality’s project manager, said on 2 December, eThekwini’s Executive Committee resolved to apply Regulation 36 of the Municipal Supply Chain Management Regulations to appoint a contractor for completion of the remainder of the works for the Westville Upgrade Project in Westville Road and in Church Road.
“Regulation 36 is the fast track process which is used in circumstances where the full tender specification, evaluation and adjudication process is inappropriate.
“There seems to be many reasons why it has taken so long to get to this stage, and I know from regular liaising with the project manager, Doug Jooste, administrative action has been taken to cancel the contract with the previous defaulting contractor.
“Jooste and his department will also arrange the appointment of the second most responsive tenderer to complete the project,” Burne said.
The next stage in the process is the preparation of a report by Jooste and his department to the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC). It is hoped that the report will be considered by the BAC at its meeting on 19 January. The contractor will be appointed soon after that date.
“The most frequent query I get from Westville residents is about this project. Everyone is annoyed about the delay in completing the project. Hopefully, the new contractor will complete the work without delay. Having said that, I cannot predict when this long running saga will be finalised,” Burne added.
