A resident of Roosevelt Park was left with a hole in her pavement due to a burst water pipe.
Felicity Lawlor, who has been a resident in the suburb for 15 years, said that the first time the pipe burst, Johannesburg Water (JW) came to fix it but they did not fix it properly. She said that the pipe burst again. “The water went to about 2m high in the air,” she said. Lawlor said that while the water was gushing out onto Preller Drive, two vehicles from JW just drove past without attending to the problem.
“The water was gushing for 12 hours before they came to fix it,” said Lawlor. The next day after the pipe was eventually fixed, she discovered that there was a big hole in her pavement. She called JW to inquire if they would fix the hole and she was told that a different department that deals with that. Lawlor went as far as filling the hole up with sand herself. “There is another hole on the road that has also been there for a while now and it is still not fixed,” she said.
Ward 88 Councillor Pat Richards said that she was aware of the problem and that she had contacted the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and JW to sort it out.
JRA spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers commented, “The procedure for reinstating the road is that the relevant entity should apply for a wayleave with the JRA, prior to making any changes to the road infrastructure.” In granting of the wayleave, Peters-Scheepers said that JRA is then aware of the work being undertaken by specific entities in particular areas. “After work has been completed, the same entity is then required to send a reinstatement order to the JRA, as a way of informing the JRA that work in the area has been completed,” said Peters-Scheepers. She said that it is the responsibility of the relevant entity digging the road to communicate with the JRA through the relevant channels of their intentions.
Peters-Scheepers said that the JRA encourages the community to report any road and storm water issues to the customer call centre on 086 056 2874, hotline@jra.org.za or via the JRA’s freely downloadable JRA Find and Fix app.
Questions were sent to JW’s external communications officer Eleanor Mavimbela on 6 June and comment is still awaited.
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