In an emergency meeting on Monday, 22 August council agreed to extend the disaster emergency fund by several million rand for repairs to failed infrastructure in Amanzimtoti after last month’s storm.
“There remains three major projects within the area that have been assessed together to obtain a quantum of additional expenditure of R8-million to R12-million,” said ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge.
“These are the washaway at the southern end of Mayville Terrace (ward 97), a private residence on the first dune along Kingsway towards Athlone Park (ward 93) and Tiger Rocks Road in Isipingo (ward 90).”
As council was not in sitting during the disaster period, delegated authority fell on the city manager as chief accounting officer to assess and approve such expenditure, later seeking ratification from council.
“This has essentially caused delays but following our office’s intervention to engage directly with the city manager’s office in an effort to prioritise and eliminate further loss of infrastructure, the chief financial officer approved the expenditure and a letter of award was said to be signed off on Wednesday, 24 August authorising repairs to commence immediately.
“We had site meetings with the municipal structural and stormwater departments on Thursday, 18 August and I can confirm that submissions are being drafted to repair the bridge, roadway and walkway at the Adams, Kingsway and N2 intersection, hand railings at Hutchison Road across the Amanzimtoti River, hand rails at Kingsway bridge across the Amanzimtoti River where the bus accident recently occurred, hand rails on the N2 pedestrian bridge at Somerset and Leslie intersection and washaway along Collin Road in Warner Beach.”
submissions are being drafted to repair the bridge, roadway and walkway at the Adams, Kingsway and N2 intersection, hand railings at Hutchison Road across the Amanzimtoti River, hand rails at Kingsway bridge across the Amanzimtoti River where the bus accident recently occurred, hand rails on the N2 pedestrian bridge at Somerset and Leslie intersection and washaway along Collin Road in Warner Beach
A follow-up meeting is scheduled for Thursday, 25 August to assess damages to the pedestrian bridge that links Dick King Place in Doonside to the old soccer field and the washaway at the Bamboo and Camelsfoot intersection.”Residents are requested to exercise caution and patience when using Kingsway in the vicinity of the old CBD where wastewater also continues to leak from the damaged infrastructure, despite the wastewater department’s best temporary efforts to contain the area.
For stormwater damages, call the engineering call centre on 080-131-3013.
The city’s electricity department confirmed it has a backlog in excess of 8,000 jobs caused by the storm.
Added to this is continued cable theft, power surges and transformers blowing up due to illegal connections, rendering vast areas without electricity.
“Complaints are being prioritised in line with available resources and while reported, there are still 123 faulty street lights that have not been attended to,” said Cllr Beetge.
For electricity-related problems, call 080-131-3111.
“We are still experiencing an array of wastewater leakages into streams that eventually find their way into our rivers. The reason being that both wastewater and stormwater lines are gravity-fed and run alongside each other. Where a break or crack is incurred in the wastewater line, it could then spill into the stormwater (open culverts) and cause contamination.
Likewise where debris from the stormwater enters the wastewater line, causing blockages and increased water levels.
In several cases this has been found to occur somewhere in dense bush or remain unreported to the department thereby necessitating teams to physically walk the line in an effort to identify the leak or blockage.
We would recommend that rivers and estuaries are avoided until such time as all leaks and cracked pipes are identified and addressed,” said Cllr Beetge.
For wastewater problems, call the engineering call centre on 080-131-3013.
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