Pic: Supplied
The sewerage infrastructure in Gqeberha’s northern areas is close to collapse with pump stations in some neighbourhoods not upgraded and maintained for the past decade.
That’s the shocking revelation by Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral committee member for Infrastructure, Dries van der Westhuizen.
“We agree that the municipality got major, major challenges and specifically, in this case, our sewerage infrastructure is close to collapse… In the broader sense we need to make sure that we’ve got plans to upgrade and maintain our infrastructure that hasn’t been maintained for 10 years, at least,” he said on Friday,
Van der Westhuizen visited the Missionvale area on Thursday following an outcry by frustrated residents who have been complaining, some for years, about sewerage blocked drains running in streets and into houses.
During the oversite visit, he was accompanied by a delegation from Infrastructure and Engineering, including Executive Director Barry Martin, as well as ward councillor Teslin Booysen.
The delegation said they witnessed, first hand, the following:
Van der Westhuizen said there are plans in place to address the myriad of challenges, but was hesitant to provide a timeframe.
“I can’t tell you that it’s going to be [fixed] in days or in weeks, but I do know that municipality already has plans in place to put fences around a number of the pump stations for the same reason that they are vandalised and then the community suffers,” he said.
“I’m fairly certain that we have a budget and that the fence and the pump will be completed in this financial year, which is the end of June – that is my estimation.”
Van der Westhuizen promised to give a more detailed report on the situation in two weeks.
