Ellis Park Lane resident angered by ‘municipal contractor’
A resident alleges that the maintenance done to the road she lives in by a 'municipal contractor' was unnecessary, and that they repaired the incorrect places.
ELLIS Park Lane resident Shay Moutinho, says that she is angered by the work ‘municipal contractors’ have done to the road she lives in.
On Thursday, 23 March, Moutiho says that she received a frantic call from her domestic worker at around midday, telling her that men were breaking up the tarmac of the road. “I went home at around 12pm after I got the call from Beatrice, and I saw these guys smashing up the road. I asked them what they were doing because they were working on perfectly good areas,” Moutinho says.
The Ellis Park Lane resident says that there was ‘nothing wrong’ with the areas of the road that were re-tarred and that the construction workers refused to fix a portion of her driveway which she says they removed. “They damaged the entrance to my driveway and then refused to fix it because they said that’s my area,” the 30-year-old, Moutinho said.
Ward councillor, Shaun Ryley said, “The area beyond a property owner’s boundary line including the driveway belongs to the municipality. Residents do not have a responsibility to maintain this area but they may do so if they wish to. Any damage done to a verge or driveway by a municipal employee or contractor must be rectified by the municipality. If residents are having issues with this work then any complaints should please be emailed to me with pictures so that I can escalate this to the relevant officials in the department for their investigation.”
Moutinho went to say that she spoke to someone from the company, who she says told her that they are contracted to maintain assigned roads in the Durban North area by the municipality. Ryley commented on the work municipal contractors are doing in the area: “There are contractors doing maintenance work on a number of roads in Durban North in accordance with the city’s roads and storm water maintenance department – once again please could this be put in writing to me in an email and I will escalate it.”
Queries or complaints can be sent to Ryley’s address, Ward36@shaunryley.com.
