Cleland’s roads are not on par
Cleland residents this weekend proved their roads are more suitable for playing golf than they are for driving on. Residents and members of the Cleland Ratepayer's Association came out in numbers to putt away their frustrations over the pothole-ridden roads the municipality continues to turn a blind eye to.
Potholes on Lynroy Avenue and Oleander Road have gotten so bad, it's a no joking point; but residents certainly had some fun, hitting as many hole-in-ones as they couldnot a difficult task when the holes are so large.
The Cleland/Meadows Residents and Ratepayer's Association’s chairperson, Jacyn Fanner, told Capital Newspapers the street golf day was their desperate attempt at getting the municipality's attention regarding the state of their roads.
“We know there are challenges within the municipality, but to actually look at these roads and see where people have to drive every day; it's unacceptable,” said Fanner. She said the condition of the roads is not an acceptable representation of what the municipality should be doing with residents and taxpayers’ taxes and rates.
“The big turnout indicates how many people want to see change in our area. Between Cleland and Meadows there’s over 5 000 residents, but when you look at the traffic that goes through here, it’s not just residents. We sat and calculated at least 2 500 vehicles drive through our area on a daily basis because they are trying to avoid bad roads in other areas,” Fanner said.
“Cars have to drive on people's lawns and on the verges across fields because our roads are just unaccessible. We were hoping that, with such a large base of ratepayers, we could actually see some sort of service delivery.” Fanner added that, despite residents lodging complaints with their ward councillor, or residents trying to do what they can themselves, they are seeing absolutely no change.
“It’s like Cleland is ignored, and that is over and above the constant water and electricity outages. Streetlights are not working, which contributes to a high crime rate in our area. We would like our roads to be attended to. The entire road needs to be resurfaced. We would like the municipality to do an assessment to have a look at the condition we are living in.”
Chairperson of the neighbourhood watch, Andrew Matheson, said this issue makes their job of looking after their communities very difficult. “There's a lot of patrollers who don't want to drive around at night because their vehicles are getting damaged. Having streetlights and resurfacing the roads would make life easier, as well as get more people involved in the neighbourhood watch,” he said.
Ward councillor Douglas Roberts said the basic problem is a lack of clarity from the municipality. “Problems have been brought to their attention on numerous occasions. We are not getting the response we want. We are fighting it in council. This puts a great amount of pressure on us.”
Senior resident Vernon Vogt said roads in the area have been an issue for a very long time. “I have been living here as from 1989 and I have never seen roads that are in this condition before. Our roads are degrading to a condition that you need to remove everything and build a new road. The issue of our roads being ignored makes us all angry,” said Roberts.
In February, Maritzburg Sun ran a story highlighting the plight of 12-year-old, wheelchair-bound Tayla Grace Geddes, who has cerebal palsy, and due the state of Lynroy Road, can no longer enjoy one of her favourite daily pleasures, a wheelchair ride around her neighbourhood.
Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said the municipality is aware of the challenges regarding road infrastructure and has been undertaking maintenance and potholes repair programmes.
“The limited financial resources have, however, slowed the progress. Some of the City's roads have reached their lifespan. As part of the municipality's plan to upgrade and improve the infrastructure, 8% of the budget has been allocated during the medium term budget adjustment for road infrastructure,” she said.