Construction projects adhere to lockdown rule

With the inevitable lockdown declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the construction of the Spring Road bridge in Weltevreden Park had to be put on hold.

The bridge was expected to be completed in June this year; however, the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) for the project, Quinton Zulu, said the 21-day lockdown is expected to set them back at least two months.

“We were two months ahead of schedule, but due to having to stop operations for a couple of weeks, we are looking at delays of up to about two months,” he indicated.

Zulu said they downed tools and packed up on Wednesday, 25 March and left security to look after the site.

He shed light on the progress saying, “The gabions had been installed, including the eastern and western walls. We were back-filling and were ready to put in the beams.”

Zulu said temporarily ceasing operations is in line with the regulations in relation to the President’s declaration of a lockdown to start at midnight on 26 March.

“We had to heed the call from the President. So we will be sending our guys back home to spend the next three weeks with their families because people’s lives matter at a time like this. There is nothing more we can do until we receive further communication from the President,” Zulu explained.

He further explained that prior to the lockdown, they had bought sanitizers, gloves and masks to protect their employees. Also, awareness signs were put up around the site to remind the workers and pedestrians about the importance of hygiene.

Another operation that was forced to shut down was at the Lutz substation in Honeydew. The CLO for the project, Lerato Mkhubukeli told Northsider that the project was closed on 24 March. “The project has been closed indefinitely until the President informs us on 16 April what we are supposed to do. We told the workers that we will inform them on 16 April as to when they could return to work,” said Mkhubukeli, who further cited that their workers were disheartened by the shutdown as this meant no pay would be coming their way.

“Because we work in a no-work-no-pay environment, the workers received their last pay cheque before the closure,” she said, adding that the situation can change should the President make provision for the construction industry to resume operations.

The only workers exempted for the lockdown are those who provide essential services such as police officers, doctors, pharmacists, paramedics and refuse removers.

For further information regarding the Spring Road bridge, contact Quinton Zulu on 082 816 5760; for the Lutz substation project, contact Lerato Mkhubukeli on 079 632 3077.