Service delivery: Councillors give feedback

In the future, the Parys Gazette will publish public complaints with regard to municipal service issues on a weekly basis. This  initiative from councillors serves to provide feedback to the community as to what have been reported, and to streamline communication between the public and the local municipality. Although not all problems can be published due to limited space, the Gazette, in cooperation with local councillors, will try and prioritise the most serious issues and report back.
Municipal problems that have already been brought to the urgent attention of the municipal manager, (cc to the Mayor), include:
1 Erect warning notices, as promised by the municipal manager many times, against illegal mining and stealing of soil at the old Parys cemetery; instruct the traffic department to start policing this and open cases of theft against the perpetrators.
2 Replace the stop sign that was taken down in error.
3 Fix the water leak under the Fredericks building in Water Street to avoid legal action by the owner claiming damages from Ngwathe Local Municipality (structural damage to the building is already appearing)
4 Fix urgent water leaks reported repeatedly at:
a] 4 Bellevue Street: leak at tap
b] Cnr Van Schalkwyk /Noorder St: water loss under the tar, over a year, getting worse daily.
c] Cnr President Kruger and Muller St: water leaks under the tar, over six months.
d] Water leak at meter. cnr Muisvoël Crescent/ Hospital Avenue, for many months.
5 Fix  dangerous electrical faults:-
a] 5 Witstinkhout Ave: dangerous situation reported many times.
b] Transformer boxes without doors, or with broken lock- these contribute to cable theft, and may cause death.
c] Some power cables (eg in Paulsen and Kort Streets) are hanging dangerously low.
d] Dangerous electric poles some leaning over, others rusted at the bottom.
e] Broken street lights in Parys and Vredefort,  – only 30 per cent work!
Over the weekend, a resident reported to DA councillor, Saal de Jager  that a truck had damaged an electrical cable and pole in Boom Street. “I immediately reported it to the after hours service. The lady was helpful and promised to contact the electrical department, then busy on a Tumahole electrical problem. She agreed to contact the traffic department to secure the area as the live cables were life-threatening. I then asked the Radio Light Group, a civil group, to stand in until the traffic department arrived, which they never did until the job was finished at 24:00.” De Jager suggested that the traffic department should work shifts to be available also after hours.
We invite all councillors to report back to the public on problems reported and progress made to solve them. Email gazettenuus@gmail.com.