Desperate need for Nahoon Reef boardwalk to receive a makeover
THE Nahoon Reef boardwalk, located within the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve, is in a poor state of repair, according to many posts on Facebook.
When the Daily Dispatch visited the boardwalk yesterday morning there were many sections of railing missing.
There is also a stretch of about six metres where the entire handrail and fencing has been knocked off, leaving a long stretch of walkway with at least a 1.5-metre drop on either side.
Simply leaning against the railings causes them to bend and sway.
Further along the boardwalk, when heading towards Nahoon Reef, there is a staircase leading down to a lookout point which is also missing railings as well as a step.
On inspecting the public toilets at Nahoon Reef parking lot they appear to have recently been repaired. The doors have a new coat of paint, the toilets flush and they are clean inside.
However, a large pile of building rubble lies outside the building.
Kevin Cole, chair of the Nahoon Point Nature Reserve management committee, said he was aware of the damage to the boardwalk. He put down to a mixture of wear and tear and human vandalism.
Cole said he had alerted BCM as well as spoken to the reserve’s rangers about the issue last week, adding that the reserve had as recently as December been “attended to” in time for the holidays.
He said that while the reserve’s committee does raise funds and will often act to fix issues for the sake of saving time, repairs as extensive as those now required had to go through Buffalo City Metro.
Samkelo Ngwenya, BCM spokesman, said: “It’s such a disappointment and setback to have to constantly fix the boardwalk due to vandals, and as much as we intensify patrols it hasn’t deterred the perpetrators. We will send a team to do an assessment of the damage, and thereafter undertake the necessary procurement procedures to fix the problem.”