R72 to be closed on April 1
‘‘ We cannot risk the lives of our workers any longer, and drivers have been particularly nasty to the workers, shouting comments and making disparaging remarks
URGENT applications are under way to prevent South Africa National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) from closing the R72 from the Fish River to Alexandria on April 1 in order to meet its October deadline for completing road works and to prevent abuse of its workforce.
“It’s preposterous,” said Kowie Ratepayers Association chairman Corrie Upshon. “The inconvenience will be catastrophic.”
DA councillor Gift Geskenk agreed: “This is a holiday town and, if visitors have no way of getting here then Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea and the other villages along the coastline will be highly prejudiced.
“Not to mention, some people will want to get out of town then, and they’ll be forced to drive through Bathurst,” he said.
Municipal spokesperson Ubuhlungu Mpundu said the municipality was in agreement with Sanral.
“Councillor Geskenk is looking too narrowly at this problem,” said Mpundu. “Like New Year’s Day, it’s just one day of inconvenience. We might lose some business in the short term, but it will mean we can still enjoy a great Christmas season.”
Mpundu went on to explain that Blackie Tarr of Gibb, the contract engineers responsible for the road repairs, had held a number of meetings with the municipality to explain the problem, and that Ndlambe Municipality was now fully in support of the one-day closure.
Sanral, the owner of the R72, along with all national roads in the country, had originally stated that it would not cause complete road closures as it widened the road and replaced the road surface along its entire length.
However, in an about-turn, Ivan Sumomonny, CEO of the roads agency, said he was prepared to accept responsibility for any money by local business lost as a result of the closure, and that all claims should be made to his office with sufficient proof of loss of income.
“We know that this is an unpopular decision, but it will stand. We need to make up time, and the only way we can do that is to have zero interruptions by being able to work on both lanes at the same time,” Sumomonny said.
He said the stop/go’s had proved not only hazardous to motorists but to road workers as well, as no one seemed to know when it was stop and when it was go.
“We cannot risk the lives of our workers any longer, and drivers along the road have been particularly nasty to the workers, shouting comments and making disparaging remarks. So, we have decided that we would rather close the road completely – just for one day, mind you – and avoid such abuse,” Sumomonny said.
“We will be taking this matter to the High Court for an urgent interdict to have Sanral withdraw its application to close the R72,” said a frustrated Geskenk, who has also asked higher structures within his political party to release former councillor Terri Stander from her responsibility as deputy shadow minister for the environment, and return to being a PR councillor in Ndlambe.
“Since Terri left,” admitted Geskenk, “everything has gone south, and by that I mean to Cape Town. We need her expertise to enable us to fight this travesty.”