The swimming pool – what’s the problem?

IT IS ALREADY December. Summer is here. Yet, whereas the municipal swimming pool is usually opened in September after closing for the winter, so far it has not opened this year.

The gates are locked. Peering through a gap in the vehicle gates, the pool has water but it is as green as creme soda. No one has been seen working there in an apparent attempt to clarify the water, and nor will the municipal authorities clarify the situation.

An e-mail seeking information was sent to the Mayor, the Municipal Manager, the media liaison officer and the Director of Community Services. The Vryheid Herald asked when the public could expect to use this facility, would members of the public using a season ticket be given a rebate given that the pool has been closed for months, and what the problem was?

The e-mail was not even acknowledged.

However, Cllr Harry Heyns said on Tuesday this week that the reason the pool was not open was that there was no supervisor available.

He said that the water was green because it was felt that to treat the water when the pool was not being used was a waste of chemicals. He said that he could not foresee a date for the pool’s opening.