Why is no maintenance done in Antelope Street, Delville Park?
Quinton Lawrence, Delville Park: Antelope Street is in a state of disrepair. years of patchwork done on potholes left the road in a very bad state. This road needs to be properly tarred or paved and kerbing installed. Several complaints were submitted to the municipality. A letter was hand delivered to the Roadworks Department which disappeared mysteriously. A complaint was also laid through the municipal app. Hereafter an e-mail was sent to Mr. Tekana at Roadworks who responded three weeks later.
He told me, inter alia, that there is no money to upgrade Antelope Street, but that Antelope Street is on a priority list. If this is so, then funds should also be prioritised to upgrade the road. In an article in George Herald dated 12 March 2020, a budgeted R104-million was mentioned to upgrade roads such as Parkdene Road and Antelope Street. This shows that there was money available. Why was this never done and what happened to the money? Comparison: Wellington Street was earmarked for minor repairs with funds allocated for such repairs. This was changed to a major upgrade according to an article in George Herald of 21/4/21. Extra funds were duly found to do this upgrade. Why can’t the same diligence and urgency be shown by the municipality when roads such as Antelope Street need upgrading? Taxpayers need to be treated equally, no matter where you reside or who you are.
Acting Director Civil Engineering Services, Lionel Daniels responds:
George Municipality confirms that the status of Antelope Street as well as the funding situation, have been explained in detail to the letter writer by an official of the Civil Engineering Directorate. The article placed in the George Herald, 12 March 2020 refers:
The sum of R104million referred to, was received by the municipality as grant funding with specific expenditure requirements on GIPTN bus routes only. Council is required to budget for roads (that do not form a part of the Go George bus routes) and is not at liberty to use grant funding at will. Antelope Street’s expensive rebuilding will cost in the region of R25- to R30-million due to the absence of a formal storm water network which also requires upgrading, which is not only limited to Antelope Street but will need to be constructed to drain toward Lynx Street. For the 2020/21 financial year, Council could only afford to budget R 8-million, which was further reduced for 2021/22, which means that Antelope Street was pushed out another year until such time as funding becomes available. Wellington Street is a bus route and grant funding could be used for the extensive upgrade.
Why can’t the same diligence and urgency be shown by the municipality when roads such as Antelope Street need upgrading?