Family trapped by new prison construction

A family living at 1 Dane Road has been prevented from easy access to their home for almost two years. The family lives on the boundary of the new prison construction site and has had to tolerate snakes, dust, noisy heavy motor vehicles, slippery mud and costly damages to their vehicles. Verbally reporting their concerns and writing letters to the authorities in charge of the prison construction have fallen on deaf ears and the family approached the Estcourt News when heavy rain left them trapped and fearing for the safety of their vehicles and lives.

The extended family that lives on what they call ‘our little farm’ say they have been experiencing a range of problems since the construction started. Their main concern is the state of the road that leads to their home. “We have always maintained the road by planting and keeping it neat and tidy but since it’s been closed a tree has fallen over and it has become dangerous. We can’t even receive our post or have our refuse removed,” said a family member, whilst guiding an Estcourt News reporter through the affected areas. Since the entrance the family previously utilised has been officially closed, so they are compelled to use a narrow road between a railway line and the construction site.

The problem with this access road is that it is used by heavy motor vehicles, which means that the family’s driveway is often obstructed, forcing them to wait for prolonged periods to exit the road. “We have negotiated with the contractors and alerted them of the times that we leave and arrive home but they do not help us,” said a family member Jessica Ramdhular. Her husband Pravesh, told the Estcourt News that after heavy rains, it was precarious to navigate vehicles along the slippery road, along which a deep trench approximately 15-20 meters deep had been dug.
“If our vehicles slide into the trench, who will remove it?” he asked.

The family’s temporary access road to their driveway is often littered with wire fencing that has fallen onto the surface. This, the family says not only hinders the passing railway line but has also caused damage to their vehicles. Besides these major concerns, the family has reported several other concerns like snakes creeping into their yard after being disturbed by the construction. Every day their homes are caked with dust from a sand heap that is less than one meter from the family’s fence. Mrs Ramdhular says that she has developed a constant cough as a result of the dust pollution. Concerns raised by the family have been forwarded to officials from the prison construction company and despite reassurances of a response, none was received at the time of going to print.