DURING an urgent meeting in Middelburg Town Hall held on Thursday, February 7, public participation was welcomed in finding solutions to the many problems posed by heavy vehicles driving through town.
The meeting was chaired by Vuyisile Bene, the Ward 9 councillor, and attended by Clive Nel (sub-contractor) and Danie Gerber (area manager) of SANRAL.
Some of the problems named during the meeting included:
- Damage to roads, pavements and signage;
- Damage to buildings and street lights;
- Noise disturbance, including that of cooling trucks idling all night outside residences;
- Trucks occupying parking spaces around churches on Sundays;
- Serious amount of littering and ablution in inappropriate spaces done by truck drivers;
- Prostitution.
A handful of business owners, mainly those running petrol stations and takeaway eateries, were of opinion that diverting trucks out of town would have a serious economic backlash.
Others reasoned that allowing trucks only carried economic benefits to a handful of individuals, while residents and the municipality carried losses due to damages caused by the trucks.
One of the most important issues mentioned was the still vacant position of a law enforcement officer.
“In my opinion, your town’s most immediate challenge is the lack of a law enforcement officer,” said Nel, a sub-contractor of SANRAL.
“It is of no use to put up signs directing heavy vehicles away from residential areas and limiting parking times if there is no one to enforce these laws,” Nel added.
Sibongile Masawe, who attended the meeting as acting mayor of IYM, informed the meeting that the vacancy for a law enforcement officer would be advertised within the next week.
“We are also currently revising several by-laws in order to be relevant to current developments,” Masawe said.
Nel assured the meeting that SANRAL was committed to assisting communities with advice and practical solutions wherever possible, but stressed that Meintjies Street belonged to IYM, and SANRAL assistance must be approved by the mayor or municipal manager first.
After public input was noted, it was concluded that the appropriate IYM committees would continue meeting with SANRAL to find solutions to the challenges posed by heavy vehicle presence in town.
