Bethelsdorp police frustrated with renovation delays

21 Jul 2016 | Admin Author

Delays in the completion of renovations and extensions at the Bethelsdorp police station in Port Elizabeth have SAPS members in a froth.They said that for the past year and seven months they've had to work in conditions that they say present health risks for police members, office staff as well as members of the public.

The R53-million rand contract was awarded to East London-based Transtruct Construction by the Eastern Cape Department of Public Works.Speaking at a briefing on Thursday between with a fed-up head of detectives, a company representative said they were complying with health and safety standards.
left: Colonel Scholtz

However, the site foreman conceded that while the parties needed to thrash out solutions, the contract was behind schedule and that the deadline to complete renovations by October 20th would not be met.

This was cold comfort for Colonel Dawie Scholtz, who said his detectives are struggling in those conditions to render a proper service to the Bethelsdorp community."We need a solution today (Thurs), because I will not allow workers to go in there," he said.

Scholtz said there was a risk of dockets being stolen adding that his detectives were working with serious cases which were often gang related.

Meanwhile, company director, Sven Linke, said they've since put an amicable solution in place."What we have come up with now is an alternative solution where we decant the police totally from an area, we've changed our approach now," he said."We going to decant, from week after next, the police from an area in its entirety, so they won't be exposed to any fumes or anything like that," Linke added.

He said the new arrangements were agreed to even while the police had been briefing the media.