The Department of Water and Sanitation has moved to assure Nelson Mandela Bay residents that contractors are working around the clock to repair the damaged canal at Kirkwood that has led to water problems in parts of the Metro.
Department spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said Tuesday that they’re hoping to that the water supply would be restored by the end of the week.
“The fact that the canal was initially not built on firm ground but rather over a filling resulted in the collapse,” he said.
“We had to stop the flow from upstream, thus affecting the people downstream of the slippage and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality together with the Sundays River Local Municipality as well as farmers,” Ratau said.
He said as a short-term solution, a pipeline that will supply water downstream is under construction whilst long term repairs are being looked into.
“This might take a bit of time to put in place,” he said.
Ratau said that the Department of Water and Sanitation together with the Sundays River Water Users Association would continue to collaborate towards finding common solutions as well as the necessary costs towards the repairs required.
