The infamous Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along Louis Botha Avenue is causing chaos and motorists can expect more traffic jams when travelling on that road.
Residents have been complaining about the conditions that the roadworks related to the Rea Vaya project has caused and others demand a speedy completion of the construction.
Ward 73 councillor Eleanor Huggett has also joined in the fray and agrees that the delays are a cause for concern.
The project was initiated by the then ANC administration in the City of Johannesburg and the DA has inherited the project.
Now, the DA-led government said it’s doing its best to deal with the complaints and problems that the project has brought on the main arterial road.
According to Huggett, the delays (of the BRT construction) are costing the taxpayers millions and has caused the area to deteriorate resulting in an increase in crime.
She said the Reya Vaya project is a Johannesburg Development Agency’s project and was the ‘dream child’ of the previous administration and has been dogged by strikes.
The present administration is doing everything in its power to get the situation back on track but is being continuously thwarted, she claimed. “Thwarted by issues such as contractors going bankrupt, groups from both outside and within the ward deliberately stopping the work in order to disrupt the present administration and general lack of expertise in many areas.”
“This is causing everyone to suffer – the residents, law-abiding citizens and people wanting legitimate work, wanting to see the area flourishing, are all being victimised by this process.”
The agency at present is attempting to take a firm grip on the situation and get the project completed with both MMC Nico de Jager and the mayor (Herman Mashaba) being fully apprised of all the facts and overseeing the issue, she said.
As for when the construction of the Rea Vaya stations will be completed, Huggett could not respond but referred North Eastern Tribune to Johannesburg Development Agency.
“I have been given several dates but none of them has come to pass because of the constant disruptions and strike action,” she said.
Benny Mogoga, City of Johannesburg’s spokesman for the BRT project, has failed to respond to Tribune’s questions after several attempts to get comment since July.
Tribune has sent questions via email and even contacted his phone but there has been no response at all.
Details: Eleanor Huggett 071 785 8068.
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