NUMEROUS residents in Ashley, Pinetown have complained about water running into the road outside the Umvoti Mounted Rifles building where the Highway Commando Association is based in Pinetown.
According to one resident, Denise Boyle, the water had been running down the Umvoti Mounted Rifles’s driveway for months and she was concerned about the thousands of litres of water that had been wasted.
“We’ve reported the incident to the Municipality but haven’t heard anything since. We’re concerned that with our country experiencing a drought, how could the Municipality allow this water to be wasted? I also believe if its a spring leak, we should utilise it otherwise we’re just wasting water,” said Boyle.
Joe Ribeiro, of the Ashley Residents’ Neighbourhood Watch (ARNW), said she was contacted by residents and approached the Highway Commando Association for answers.
Bill Pirrie, chairman of the Highway Commando Association and Charles Wilson, the maintenance manager at the Highway Commando Association met with Ribeiro and the Highway Mail on Wednesday and explained that they were equally concerned about the water leak.
“The Municipality has been here on several occasions and together we have conducted site inspections. We believe and the evidence shows that it’s not a water leak, but could be water seepage from an underground stream. We are not 100 per cent sure where it’s coming from or whether it is an underground spring at this stage,” said Pirrie.
He said the reason why the water keeps flowing down the road is that they have a collapsed drain at the entrance to the driveway which usually runs into a furrow but the water is constricted at the collapsed drain and is now seeping through.
“The entrance driveway has had the impact of heavy traffic over the last 35 years which we believe has caused the drain under the driveway to collapse. We are currently looking at ways to solve this issue by trying to redirect the water back into the furrow,” said Pirrie.
Ribeiro said she would like to assure the community that the matter is being addressed and will be resolved shortly.
