MMC for Infrastructure and Engineering in the Nelson Mandela
Bay Metro, Masixole Zinto, has called upon communities to work with the municipality
to protect plumbers and contractors working on water leaks and sanitation in
their areas.
This call was made following a recent meeting Zinto had with
seven contractors hired to augment the fixing of water leaks programme. Zinto arranged
the meeting to try and find ways on how to accelerate the pace of fixing water
leaks.
According to a statement released by the NMBM this afternoon,
contractors stated in the meeting that their plumbers are being robbed when
they work in certain areas, more specifically in the townships and that this is
the main reason for delays in their work.
“Our plumbers have been robbed more than five times in
different areas. This puts a lot of strain on them because after the robberies
our staff will have to take a day off and go for counselling. This also poses a
risk to their lives,” one of the company owners said. He chose to remain
anonymous to protect his employees.
He added that crime was becoming a serious impediment to the
pace of their service delivery.
“The metro is faced with a serious water crisis, with
combined dam levels currently sitting at 20% We need a united effort to save
every drop. I understand that some of these criminals are part of our
communities and we have to work with law enforcement to root them out,” Zinto
said.
The statement also mentioned that five months ago, the metro
was sitting at about 16000 water leaks. Currently active water leaks are below
3000.
“Our aim is to drastically decrease our water losses,
build a culture of water conservation and intensify the enforcement of
restrictions. I am happy that we came up with solutions in the meeting, but the
critical part of these solutions is the partnership with our people,” Zinto added.
He explained that the second phase of his engagements will
be with communities through organised structures that already exist. “I
will also be holding sessions with communities to discuss more on how we can
build sustainable partnerships.”
Issued by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Communications
Office.
