AN overflowing stormwater drain in Ward 8 that has been blocked for the past year is slowly starting to form a sinkhole.
Ward Councillor, Gustav Rautenbach, is concerned about the safety of children and animals since the drain which is more than a metre deep, is situated in Marne Avenue, which is close to a school and church.
During PE Express’s visit to the site, the stormwater drain was overflowing, with rain water trickling down the road at a steady pace right into another stormwater drain, which is steadily filling up, too.
According to Rautenbach, this is not the only blocked stormwater drain in his ward, but there are also others in Meuse Avenue and Dijon Road.
However, the one in Marne Avenue is the most disconcerting.
“I have been struggling to get the stormwater drains cleaned since a year ago. I was told that the drain pipe in Marne Avenue had collapsed and needed to be replaced.
“After several follow-up emails, calls and WhatsApp messages, I received a response in December last year from Roads and Transport, saying that they had overspent on their budget and run out of funds until further notice,” Rautenbach explained.
“I kept following up and requesting to know when a budget would be available. I sent numerous e-mails again, involving the city manager too and the last response I received was on May 31 this year, when a Roads and Transport official forwarded the matter and said that supply chain management should urgently be asked for a contractor.
“I still kept following up and until now, nothing has been done.”
Rautenbach added that he had a meeting with the new acting executive director of roads and transport at the end of August and had met some of the division’s officials.
“He asked me to send a list of priorities and the necessity of cleaning the stormwater drains was at the top of my list,” he said.
“Things have been worsening with regard to the drains, especially with the recent rain that we have received.
“There were pools of water everywhere because the water couldn’t flow into the already blocked and overflowing drain. If you drive through them, your vehicle swerves from one side to the other and this is dangerous.
“There could even be a pothole underneath that pool of water but motorists wouldn’t be able to spot it until it’s probably too late.”
Apart from motorists, Rautenbach is concerned that if a small child walks in the street and doesn’t see the drain they could easily fall into it and drown.
“We need to consider the safety of our residents. The municipality could be blamed and easily held accountable if something happens. It is time for the officials to pay attention to these stormwater drains, as well as clean and maintain them.”
At the time of going to print, no comment had been received from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
