Residents are once again complaining about the poor service rendered by the local municipality, more so as lives are at risk, especially those of children. Also of concern, is that the council has once more shown no interest in preventing huge water losses, despite the scarcity and the current water restrictions in place for residents. This follows a burst water pipe on Bengal Street, causing a huge wastage of water, which poured down the street for about two weeks, before the leak was finally attended to by council employees. However, even after eventually repairing the leak, the council workers left residents in the area down in the dumps, as the area of the repair was left unsafe and in a mess.
Rajni Maganlal, a resident of Bengal Street, opposite the area where the water pipe had burst, told the Laudium Sun, “It’s been more than two weeks since the water pipe burst, with water being wasted and running down the street. Despite desperate calls to the council, there was no response from them for two weeks. I expected them to take water leaks very seriously, as water is precious and the council keeps on telling us to use water sparingly, as it is a scarce resource. Nevertheless, the council finally attended to the leak this past Saturday (August 7) and we were all glad. But then, they closed the main water tap in the area for the whole day, as they took their time to repair the pipe. It was hard to be without water for the entire day. Even then the residents kept their cool, as we just wanted the leaking pipe repaired. But, after the repair team left, we were shocked to see that they left a big hole around the fixed pipe, without even bothering to close off the area. This hole is so dangerous for all pedestrians walking in the area, especially the children going to school and even adults walking at night, as they could so easily fall into the hole. The workers did not even bother to clean up the place after they finished. These council workers never complete a job properly. It is always as if they are doing us a big favour by coming out in the first place. They do not seem to care about us, as tax paying residents, who are always on the receiving end of poor service. Now, we will have to keep on calling them to fix the hole and hope no one gets injured in the meantime. This government has been taking us residents for granted for too long now.”
Mikyle Naidoo, a gr 9 learner at Himalaya Secondary School said, on Wednesday (August 11), “This morning, I almost fell into that hole, as I was going to school. This hole is so dangerous and is also causing a traffic jam, which might cause car accidents to say nothing of learner’s lives being at risk. They need to close this hole before we see bad things happening.”
Shannon Naidoo, of Himalaya Street, said, “I was walking with my children, as I was going to buy some bread at the tuck-shop. Then I saw this hole which is so very dangerous. To my thought, I wondered what if my kids went alone to the tuck-shop. They are young and they would not have easily seen the sudden hole on the street and could have fallen inside. I hope that the council closes the hole quickly.”
Councillor Mahomed Essop, said, “The hole will be closed soon, once the concrete is dry and also once it is ascertained that the pipe isn’t still leaking. The residents must not panic, we are monitoring it.”
