Urgent Amanzimtoti storm repairs to go ahead

eThekwini Municipality has approved emergency funds for prioritised storm repairs in Amanzimtoti.

Ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge said repairs to prioritised storm damage projects will start ahead of the influx of holidaymakers to the South Coast, while other less urgent repairs will take place in the new year.

“One hundred projects have been clustered into 13 groups and allocated to a panel of pre-approved contractors,” he said.

Prioritised projects and the costs in Amanzimtoti include: Ward 93: 10 Marshall Road – R2.1m, 737 Kingsway – R3m, 708 Kingsway – R1.25m, 6A Francis Place – R2m, 12 Fynn Road – R250,000, 53 Louis Botha Road – R500,000. Ward 97: 18 Arbuthnot Road – R200,000, Winifred Drive – R200,000, Good Hope Way – R6m, Ashley Road – R1.8m, Stanwick Road – R200,000, St Boniface – R3m, Bracken Road – R200,000, 47 Longacres Drive – R300,000.

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The total expenditure needed from emergency funds for these projects is R141 806 350. The total expenditure needed for projects in the new year total R166 300 000. That is an overall total of R308 106 350 for the projects from the engineering department alone, with an additional R300-m needed for housing damages.

“To acquire the immediate emergency funds, the municipality had to forfeit scheduled road rehabilitation, which provided R60m towards the R141-million,” said Cllr Beetge. “Postponed capital projects will free up another R60-m, and R20-m is to be made available from savings via treasury.

READ ALSO: Don’t chase the storm!

The R166-m needed for the remaining repairs will have to be accommodated in the 2018/19 budget, which means other projects could be postponed for up to five years. Some repairs are, however possible from departments’ maintenance budgets.”

Cllr Beetge has had to fight hard to get repairs in the greater area prioritised and escalated to get approval done and contracts awarded ahead of the tourism season.

He reminds residents that repairs as a result of municipal infrastructure failure falls to the municipality, but it remains the resident’s reponsibility to protect their own property.

“Some residents build sub-standard retaining walls out of sand bags, tyres or hollow bricks, which does not conform to building regulations and requirements. If a stormwater pipe breaks and a bank is washed away, it is the city’s responsibility to effect repairs. But if property is damaged because of a sub-standard retainer wall or poor infrastructure on the resident’s side, it effectively remains their responsibility to repair it.”