Phiwokuhle Mothemela
A senior Nelson Mandela Bay municipal official says he is satisfied with the progress being made in the repair work underway to a section of the lower Sunday's River Canal.
Khanya Ngqisha, the mayoral committee member for Infrastructure and Engineering and other officials conducted a site visit on Wednesday after the repair work started on Monday.
"Thus far, I give our team 10 out of 10 for the work they have done. Everything is going smoothly and deducing form our calculations, the residents' taps will not run dry as we ensured that the Scheepersvlakte dam is filled and is able to supply our residents with water.
The repairs to the canal stems from a 2017 incident when a section of the canal collapsed and a temporary structure was erected, which was at the brink of collapsing.
The first phase of the repairs was completed earlier this month and according to Ngqisha, this is the last phase of repair work for the year.
"After completing this phase, we will temporarily stop working on the canal until next winter," says Ngqisha.
Answering the question on why the repair work will be halted he said there needs to be balance of the water demand for the residents.
"We need to put heads together to ensure that the finer details are in order. Water demands decreases during the winter season so that is why we decided to resume then."
Meanwhile, the current repair has led to a seven-day shutdown.
Last week the city's senior director for water and sanitation, Barry Martin, said the shutdown was necessary to secure the tie-in infrastructure, until the permanent concrete sections can be installed.
He said every precaution was taken to minimise any water shutdowns this time around.
Martin added that water tankers would be deployed to affected areas should the need arise.
