Theft and vandalism ‘two major factors’ at Percy Stewart plant
Mogale City Local Municipality identified theft and vandalism of infrastructure as two major hindrances at the Percy Stewart Waste Water Treatment Works.
It is a widely known fact that some malfunctioning systems at Percy Stewart Waste Water Treatment Works are causing catastrophic environmental issues in the Krugersdorp area due to sewerage polluting the rivers, especially in the Cradle of Humankind.
In April, Unicef invited the Krugersdorp News to visit a few defective waste facilities in the Mogale City and Cradle of Humankind areas.
During this visit, water specialist Quintin Paulse said that untreated raw sewage flows directly from the Percy Stewart Works into the Tweelopiespruit River, passing through the Cradle of Humankind and finally flowing into the Hartbeespoort Dam.
• Also read: Pollution in the Cradle raises international eyebrows
Paulse added inadequately treated wastewater effluents harm the receiving environment and subsequently, several water resources are exposed to regular extreme fluctuations in microbial and chemical qualities as a result of the variety of activities on the water body.
Since then, the pollution from the Percy Stewart treatment plant has still been an issue, and the News wanted to find out what Mogale City Local Municipality’s (MCLM) perspective is on the matter.
MCLM communications officer Adrian Amod said their main challenge is vandalism of infrastructure at Percy Stewart.
“Theft and vandalism of infrastructure has been a leading progress hindrance at the treatment works. Infrastructure replacement and repair as a result of theft adversely affects the project’s capital budget. The municipality also loses out on time with lengthy insurance claims submissions and associated procedures. Currently, the aforementioned long lead times have slowed down the replacement of cables which is causing the unit processors to overflow and settlement of the sludge inside the structures. The project team is also awaiting the conclusion of the internal Supply Chain Management processes for the terrain maintenance tender to be awarded,” Amod said.
He added that a memorandum of Agreement/ Understanding was submitted to management for consideration concerning the updates of the restoration of the Percy Stewart plant.
Amod continued that other problems they face include, insufficient capital budget to replace the stolen and vandalised equipment, insurance claims submitted, awaiting feedback from the insurer, long lead times into the replacement of the cables is causing the unit processors to overflow and settlement of the sludge inside the structures and the awarding of the terrain maintenance tender.
“Improved security and access control are being put in place which has worked effectively for alternative solutions of the plant. Members of the community can help curb theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure by reporting any suspicious activities to the police,” Amod concluded.
