Editor
Trenching in Broomcliff Road:
The contractor is not complying with the specification with regards to health and safety, installation of the cables, which should be 300mm apart for MV cable.
If a local contractor was doing the work, he should be asked to follow the specification.
The public employees from the municipal electrical department will be pouncing on the local contractor.
The trenching should be secured like the contractor work in Lorne Street.
The electrical department needs to have one set of rules for all contractors and catch a wake up!
Potholes at the bottom of Outspan Road
Money is being wastefully spent at the substation near the Keate Street graveyard.
Firstly about R70 000 was spent on the installation of a crash barrier, preventing the trucks making U-Turns.
Now these trucks makes U-Turns at the intersection of the roads.
Secondly a small section of the road to the graveyard is being tarred.
The cost should be about R130 000. If the electrical department had got surplus monies, give us a rebate on our bills or use the monies to fix the potholes at the bottom of Outspan Road.
There is heavy traffic on that part of the road daily. Even the staff from the electrical department use this road daily.
Lastly does the Municipal Manager know about the above?
Estcourt Resident
a) Broomdlffe Road Trenching:
OHSACT has been the basis on which the contractor has been employed, the trenching has been specified to the contractor as per the contract work given to local contractors, the specification for the barriers have been handed over to the main contractor, who is responsible for health and safely in that area, the project which includes the installation of the two 33 000 volt cables have been tendered out and awarded to ABB.
All safety aspects have been discussed with the principal contractor prior to the commencement of the project.
The project engineer on behalf of the municipality inspects the trenches and cables laid so as to confirm that specifications are adhered to. As far as the Electricity Department pouncing on local contractors, it can be stated that the contractors who do not comply with safety regulations and who do not consider the public safety whilst working have been advised repeatedly, due to failure to comply with reasonable instructions, that said contractor who was performing work in Lome Street had to thereafter submit Health and Safety files as per Safety requirements, the contractor finally appointed a Health And Safety Consultant who communicated with the Electricity Department and subsequently complied with requirements.
b) Money Wastefully Spent in Keate Street:
1) R 70 000 spent on barriers to prevent trucks turning: I can confirm that barriers have been installed for the said amount, however the writers comment as “wastefully spent” is a premature comment as he has not considered the following facts:
a) The trucks that were turning in the open space have been damaging the entrance way, which needed to be secure for the delivery of the 20 MVA transformer which weighs in excess of 40 tons,
b) The turning trucks also damaged municipal infrastructure such as electrical streetlight poles and main water line manholes, which had to be repaired.
c) The area that was barricaded is to be used for the Electrical Main Substation expansion, this is municipal infrastructure that is being damaged by unruly drivers, thus steps had to be taken to secure municipal assets.
2) Small area of graveyard road being tarred:
This statement is made to mislead the public as the following facts need to be considered; it is the first section of the length of road that is being tarred, it is not for the graveyard use however, it is to secure the access to the main substation for the following reasons:
1) The access to the substation needs to handle traffic loads up to 40 tons.
2) The equipment that has been installed is manmade, hence faults can occur, should these equipment need to be repaired, replaced, removed or maintained, then vehicles that are required to lift this heavy equipment must have easy access, thus it is not a waste but more a proactive way of ensuring that any down time to the main substation will be minimised.
3) The main substation feeds all business and industry from that substation all the way and including Mimosadale, therefore all efforts will be made to secure the sub as well as to ensure that there is adequate resource and access to perform emergency work.
4) The writer must also note that three more driveways will be secured, either through tarring or concrete that will allow the electricity department access to all equipment on that site.
5) There is also a seepage problem from spring water in that area, therefore it is imperative that the entry to the substation is secure for vehicles to entry.
I wish to thank the writer for bringing these concerns to the public as it gives us a chance to inform the public about the facts of what is being done to ensure that electricity is continuous and of good quality
In Estcourt, we aim to be the best and with the public support we can achieve these goals.
Ms PN Njoko
Umtshezi Municipal Manager
