Neglect causes clogged up water furrows
ABERDEEN — On Monday, 3 December, ten concerned Aberdonians met to consider the problems experienced with the delivery of irrigation water in the town, as this has now ceased completely.
Ward Committee member Dick van Wyk chaired the meeting and updated everyone on the current situation.
This is basically that two of the three springs at Fonteinbos are low but running, but blocked and neglected channels cause a lack of water delivery further down the line.
In the town itself, the damage to the weir and the lack of maintenance of furrows by the municipality means that many have not been receiving the water that they pay for each month.
He reported that Clive Kombani, area manager for Aberdeen, has admitted that maintenance of furrows is the responsibility of the municipality, except for those enclosed within private properties which must be maintained by the property owners themselves.
An attempt at clearing town furrows appears to have begun, but according to Kombani the contract has been ‘completed’ and new contractors must be employed. However, the situation, in reality, is that unmarked and unprotected open holes and piles of rubble and rubbish are present in town, causing danger to passers-by. Although the year-end holiday period has not yet begun, this unsafe situation will obviously remain until the new year, which is totally unacceptable to the residents. Those present at the meeting agreed that this is only one small area of concern amongst many for the local community as a whole in regard to the general lack of service delivery by the municipality in areas for which it is responsible.
Much lively discussion was held and the consensus was that previous pleas and requests to the municipality have all fallen on deaf ears and will continue to do so, or empty promises have been made with obviously no intention of follow-through. It was agreed that this situation should not be allowed to continue and action by the community is required. The first step will be to collect as much information as possible and to personally contact as many concerned people as possible, after which a plan of action can be decided upon and put into place.
A further meeting will be held at the home of Judith and Tony Dardis, 7 Ziervogel Street, on 18 December at 15:00, and members of the group have urged as many people as possible to attend.