Durban — Open trenches after burst pipes are repaired on Durban’s roads have left motorists frustrated.
Active Citizens Coalition (ACC) president, councillor Imtiaz Syed, has again ruffled the city’s feathers with complaints about the poor state of the water pipeline and frequent bursts on Peter Mokaba Ridge Road in Overport.
Syed was also concerned about frequent burst water pipes and leaks in eThekwini wards 25, 27 and 31.
“Water supply woes plague our communities across the city daily. As we see leaks being repaired, questions arise around the sustainability and long-term plans, as it were,” Syed said.
In response to Syed’s questions about leaks or burst pipes during an eThekwini full council meeting, the eThekwini water and sanitation unit said that between January 1 last year and February 28 this year, there were 518 in ward 25, 465 in ward 27 and 147 in ward 31.
Along Peter Mokaba Ridge and St Thomas roads, 69 leaks were reported.
Syed said a contractor gets paid R4 000 per shift.
“The city has 140 contracted plumbers but due to budget constraints it was reduced to 78,” the unit stated.
Syed also asked when the Peter Mokaba Ridge water line, which runs from St Thomas to Earl Haig Road, would be replaced in its entirety. The unit, in response, said it would take six to 10 weeks to design and produce a project plan and submit it to a construction team.
The unit stated that the budget still needed to be allocated so it could only be implemented in the next financial year if the budget was approved.
Syed also wrote to the city council asking for regular inspections on roads after a pipe was repaired so that open excavations were cordoned off.
For more than a month several open excavations have not been barricaded on Peter Mokaba Ridge Road.
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