Change of track on Rosehill, Riverview water supply plan

It has been a difficult last few days for residents in and around Port Alfred with the water shortage impacting most homes and businesses around town.

Load-shedding has played a major role in this, as there are fewer hours during which water can be pumped into the treatment plants and distribution lines.

Ndlambe Municipality released a statement on July 4 advising of the steps which they are and have been taking to alleviate the issues facing the water supply, which include: repairs to damaged control panels at the RO Plant; appeals to Eskom to exempt the grids which serve the two RO plants from load-shedding; the purchase of generators; and Ndlambe LM supplying water to strategically placed communal water tanks. We thank Ndlambe LM for addressing these issues and we hope to see water flowing from our taps soon.

It is not all doom and gloom. We are pleased to advise that there is good news on the water front for the residents of Rosehill and Riverview Estate who have been without water for nearly 600 days.

On July 7 we requested feedback from Dr Vithi (Director of Infrastructure at Ndlambe Municipality) on the progress being made to supply these areas with water and received the following update on the same day:

Good morning,

The initial supplier [has yet again extended] the timeframes by which we will get the pumps. I have taken a decision that their option is not going to assist us; hence on Monday July 4 I [sourced] an alternative.

The reason it has taken long to [source] an alternative is because the supplier kept on promising us. We had hoped that they would deliver on the promised time frames. Now that they are changing to another extended date, I have then proceeded to place an order with an alternative supplier.

[That] supplier has indicated that they have two pumps that we can install for the Rosehill

booster pump station. They have promised that the pumps will be delivered before July 15 and the installation will commence. I will update on the progress as soon as the pumps get delivered. I understand the frustration and the inconvenience [this has been to] the residents. We are trying our best and hope that this time around, the plan succeeds. Regards

We are pleased at this prompt response from Dr Vithi and her team. We are pleased that there has been a clear timeline stipulated, which we have diarised to obtain further feedback on.

We are working hard for this community and donate many hours to ensure the interests of our ratepayers and residents are raised with Ndlambe LM. If you would like to support us, please consider joining PARRA. We need funding, support, skills and involvement from the communities which fall within our area. If you live, own, work or rent in Port Alfred, Nemato, Station Hill or Thorn Hill, please get involved. Membership Forms can be found on our website