Co-operation needed to resolve drainage problems

Long spells of drought are traditionally broken by a flood and this will be the case in Nelson Mandela Bay sometime in the future. But again the recent rainfall shows how poor infrastructure maintenance is still the root cause of severe damage to large parts of the city. Our broken stormwater drainage system has once again been thrust into the spotlight after flash floods rendered hundreds of residents homeless last weekend.

The city’s sewerage system is also on the verge of collapse as cable theft, vandalism and load-shedding mesh with decades of poor maintenance in a perfect storm.

Cogta MEC Zolile Williams visited the metro on Wednesday to assess infrastructure damage caused by heavy rains as well as the city’s preparedness to face more downpours on Wednesday and yesterday.

In Walmer, Williams highlighted the city’s poor stormwater planning, saying the failure to create channels and furrows to direct water away from people’s homes was one of the causes of the floods.

In Kwazakhele, a stormwater drain in Mavuza Street that feeds the one in Baduza was blocked by building rubble and huge rocks.

This has contributed to the floods in other areas as well. So the problem with our stormwater drainage system also lies with residents as the network is clogged with foreign objects despite numerous calls from various stakeholders to address the issue.

These foreign objects can include mattresses, tyres, bottles, toys and stones.

Discussions have been under way for some time to ensure the city is better prepared for wider-scale disasters after several flooding incidents.

But the recent rains show little progress has been made as residents were once again forced to flee their homes. This will happen every time the city is hit with heavy rain.

Residents need to ensure dumping in their stormwater drainage systems is stopped while the metro needs to urgently maintain the metro’s crumbling network.