“Adjudication for appointing a service provider was recently finalised and we believe work at the dam will start by Wednesday (April 26),“ says Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman.
When metro officials visited the dam recently, they could not pick up any of the odour the residents had complained about.
• Read: Metro is managing the hyacinth problem
However, Gadebe claims they will monitor the situation in the future.
“In all the dams where there are hyacinth control methods, we have never had a case where we could smell rotting hyacinth bulbs,” he says.
The metro will monitor Dersley Dam closely in the coming weeks to ascertain the cause of the smell and once this is established, they will report the cause to the Addie.
The water master machine, known as the dread machine, is currently used by the metro at the Brakpan Dam where they are removing hyacinth.
• Also read: Metro controls aggressive hyacinth invasion
Gadebe says the work will take a few months to complete before the machine can be moved to the next dam where there is a problem.
“As soon as the contractor starts with the removal of the hyacinth, the metro expects the environment will be restored to normality,” says Gadebe.
