UPDATE: Dubious sub-contractor digs up pavement and vanishes
PARKHURST – Residents remove rubble left by a sub-contractor two years ago using own funds following lack of response from JRA.
The Craigpark Residents Association has had to dig deep into its funds to remove rubble on Clarence Avenue, allegedly dug up by an unknown sub-contractor who failed to remove it two years ago and reinstate the pavement.
Dr Mac Rogan, executive member of the residents association said, as a whole, the suburb faced this challenge of pavements being dug up and not being properly fixed, and it happened frequently. He blamed fibre installation contractors, saying they were the main culprits; and said the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s wayleave department was the enabler.
“Contractors get a wayleave from the department at Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), when they finish they are supposed to go back and the department is supposed to send someone to inspect that the pavement has been re-instated and they don’t do that,” said Rogan.
“The contractors know they are going to get paid even if they don’t reinstate because it costs them money.”
Rogan said the pavement was dug up from 1 Clarence Avenue all the way up to Buckingham Avenue and the rubble was left on the corner of the street. He said the matter was first reported to the agency using the hotline almost two years ago and residents have been logging calls ever since.
“The surface on the pavement was tarmac. It was all lifted and left in mounds and they laid whatever cables they had to and then vanished,” added Rogan.
“People think it’s Telkom but no one knows.”
An email in Rogan’s possession dated 13 February 2014 from Nico Castanho, Telkom ops manager in the NFS Service Provider Management division, to another colleague, in response to a Facebook post by Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck enquiring on the state of the pavement, disputed the allegations saying it was not a Telkom project.
“It is a DFA (Dark Fibre Africa) project from 8th Street to Buckingham Avenue in 1st Avenue West/Clarence Avenue Parkhurst,” read the email. “Please assist as this was on the Radio Today.”
Rogan said it cost R2 500 to get the rubble removed by a private rubble removal company. “At the moment we have cleared the rubble but the surface is not good. The tarmac still needs to be laid back,” he said.
Sylvia Leybold-Kugler a resident in the area said it had been a nightmare and frustrating for a couple of years to try and get their pavements fixed.
“They’re all ineffective and they’re all passing the buck, I really don’t know what else can be done about this. Where do our rates and taxes go?” asked Leybold-Kugler.
Rogan stressed that to curb the problem, residents had to play an active role by always ensuring they request to see the wayleave from anyone digging up the pavement outside their gates. “They [residents] must go out and ask them for the wayleave and if they fail to do so, it will be reported to the authorities.”
In a statement, the agency apologised for the non-responsiveness and said the contractor is required to remove any rubble and to reinstate the area accordingly. The roads agency said it was still investigating the matter and would provide more information at a later stage.
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