WATCH: Fibre installation issues addressed

A MEETING to address issues concerning fibre installations and trench diggings on the bluff was recently held at the Bluff National Park Golf Course.

Representatives from various departments from the municipality were there to advise and account for questions put to them.

These included the chief whip, councillor Sibongiseni Mkhize, ward 66 councillor, Zoë Solomon, and various other stakeholders.

The OSS war room chairperson, Charles Leaven, was the convenor. He presented a slide show of complaints submitted which were tabled in an excel spreadsheet. Images taken by residents of their concerns were also displayed on the slide show.

“There are signboards that are broken, verges and pipes that are damaged. eThekwini, from what I know, has the resources to fix these issues and then bill the contractors for the damage. It’s either work stoppages or eThekwini fixes the problem,” said Leaven.

Solomon expressed her gratitude to the contractors who employed local people. She said three companies were authorised to do installations on the Bluff.

“I asked the contractors why they were going to dig trenches three times and they said that is how they’ve been doing it all over the country. I was absolutely alarmed because I knew for a fact that nobody is going to take their sidewalks dug out three times,” she said.

In his address, Mkhize said a war room is not a political structure but a collaboration between residents and the municipality to address service delivery issues.

“In the war room there is no attacker or defender, you must be able to distinguish between a problem and a person. This is a problem you’re facing as the community of ward 66, don’t attach the problem to a person,” he said.

He later submitted two names of officials who he said should directly be contacted to address the issue. The evening gathering was restricted to a few residents with Covid-19 protocols observed.