The single robot at Port Edward has been ‘on the blink’ for over a week. On Monday last week, I noticed they were still malfunctioning.
The lights were crazy… flashing red and green at the same time. Drivers were totally confused, and I witnessed a very near collision.
I travelled towards Margate, and I noticed a Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) Law Enforcement vehicle in front of me, which turned into the Leisure Bay municipal offices.
I decided to follow in order to speak to the driver about the dangerous situation at the Port Edward intersection. Four occupants were in the car eating fast food. I was asked why I was following them. I explained it was because I wanted to help avoid a serious accident. I was curtly directed to speak to their supervisor.
I eventually located the supervisor in the labyrinth of empty offices and informed her of the obvious dangers of the flashing robots. She told me it had been reported, and they were awaiting the electrician.
I asked about a points man being posted there in the interim to avoid an accident. She informed me that nobody could expect somebody to stand on duty for eight hours.
“How about setting up shifts?” I said.
She hastily informed me that she was following protocol and would have to wait for the electrician.
The ridiculous situation is that over that time, at the offices, there were four emergency vehicles parked off with at least eight employees engaged in eating and talking to each other.
Why was there such total disinterest in handling a potentially serious situation?
As a resident of Port Edward for almost 35 years, it is very sad to witness the disintegration of fundamental support from the organisations that are paid to provide support and protection for those who actually pay their wages.
PHILIPPA MAKEPEACE
RESPONSE:
On behalf of the municipality, I wish to apologise for the manner in which Ms Makepeace feels she was treated; the matter could have been handled better.
The faulty robot was reported to our electricians on Monday last week, and we received a commitment from the responsible manager that it will be attended to. There was also a commitment from our Law Enforcement manager of deployments to all faulty robots, though only during peak hours.
I would not like to comment further on the matter but request that Ms Makepeace formally submit her complaint to Sfiso.Ngcaku@rnm.gov.za so that the whole matter can be investigated.
I would like to conclude by saying that as RNM, our commitment is to provide quality services; hence, we would like the complainant to formally register the complaint to ensure that the matter is addressed with the concerned officers.
SIMON APRIL
RNM spokesman
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