Vandals cost BCM millions at frozen Gonubie link road ’
A portion of the 6.9km Beacon Bay-Gonubie link road is overrun with weeds. Paving blocks on the dividing island have been removed and underground pipes and electricity wires lie exposed.
Street lights on the entire 680m carriageway have been stripped of their wires.
An oversight visit on Monday by the DA to the multimillion-rand road showed that the neglected road construction project has been targeted by thieves and vandals.
DA deputy leader in the Eastern Cape Chantel King said the longer the delay is on resuming construction of the road, the more damage there will be.
What we need to see is
“
action. This would provide much-needed employment and relief during this time of Covid19. The minute that lockdown started there should have been contingency plans for security measures at the construction site. This (vandalism) will now cost taxpayers millions,” King said.
Old cupboards, alcohol bottles, acrylic sealant, household refuse and three cow heads were scattered at the bottom of the carriageway.
DA councillor Marion Mackley said the land still had potential for development. This is prime land, where
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upmarket development is possible. Unfortunately, developers can't do anything until the road is finished. It's holding up a lot of things, especially the employment waiting to happen,” Mackley said.
The vandalised area occurs in the second construction phase of the project a dual
— carriageway with a full traffic circle, a culvert over the Quenera River and a 1.4m-wide median pedestrian walkway and bicycle track on both sides of the road.
At the Quenera Drive circle at the bottom of Edge Road dumping is rampant, with household refuse, old tree branches, mouldering mats and more heading into the industrial area in Beacon Bay.
The six-phase project is only in phase two.
Mackley said the total capital budget over a three-year period from 2016 to 2019 was R230m.
On completion of all the planned phases, the link road will run from the traffic lights at Retail Park and down Quenera Drive to connect with Gonubie Main Road just below the police station.
In June, Buffalo City Metro spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said they were still waiting for funding for phases four and five of the project, which would be done simultaneously.
Ngwenya had not responded to questions by print deadline on Monday.
The tender for the megaproject was awarded to Down Touch Investments in April 2019, with the contract expected to run for 18 months.
March 19 2020 was the expected completion date at the time.
The link road project has had other stumbling blocks. In 2019 BCM negotiated to buy a portion of farmland in Beacon Bay for R2.3m to make access a reality.
The landowner initially declined the metro s offer.
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This is prime land, where upmarket development is possible. Unfortunately, developers can't do anything until the road is finished. It's holding up a lot of things, especially the employment waiting to happen