Tinktinkie (also known as Mshiniwam), an informal settlement located in Kariega, recently received new toilets installed in their area, following their cries to the municipality regarding their plight earlier this year.
As previously reported by UD Express, the residents of Tinktinkie cited their problems of lack of water supply, no roads, no streetlights, and no adequate toilets.
Democratic Alliance (DA) ward councillor Georgen Miggels helped expedite the toilet project so that the residents can have proper toilets.
The informal settlement also received much-needed lighting improvements when the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) stepped in, recently installing three floodlights in Tinktinkie, with plans for seven more, and additional lights in McCarthy informal settlement in Kariega, according to the FF+’s Caucus Assistant, Marlon Booysen.
The lighting project is said to have cost R12 000 to complete. This installation has addressed one of the critical needs of the community which had been living in darkness.
According to Miggels, this toilet project has been in the works for quite a long time, as the toilets had been completed in February of this year.
However, the toilets were signed for only by a member of the community, Rhagida Salie, and the ward councillor on Thursday, May 8, when the toilets were officially handed over.
Present at the handover were members of the municipality, community members, and Miggels.
On the day of the official handover, final modifications were being completed as plastic taps were connected to the sides of the toilets, providing residents with seven additional water access points.
This improvement addressed one of the four most pressing challenges in the area, which was severe water scarcity, as residents previously relied on just two standpipes to serve the entire informal settlement.
In total, three of the four plights faced by residents in Tinktinkie have been addressed: no streetlights (addressed by FF+), no adequate toilets (now provided by the municipality), and water access (improved with additional taps).
The only remaining issue is the lack of proper roads in the area, which will allow emergency service vehicles to enter the area, instead of the current method of residents having to carry the sick or deceased to the entrance of the area.
While doing the final modifications, plumbers realised that one of the taps that had been installed halfway had already been vandalised before the official handover.
The plastic taps, according to the plumbers, have a street value of just 50 cents. This shocking realisation prompted the plumbers to halt their plans of installing the taps at the access points, as they feared that the taps would be stolen, which would cause water to spray uncontrollably.
To stop this waste of municipal water, the plumbers agreed that they would not install the taps until a valve to stop the water flowing was installed.
If this valve is installed and one of the taps gets stolen, residents can close the valve to prevent water waste. This valve will be installed inside the toilets so that anyone can switch it off should the taps get vandalised.
Infrastructure engineer Cebo Tetyana said that McCarthy, another informal settlement in Kariega suffering from the same plights as Tinktinkie residents, is situated on private land.
“The municipality cannot touch that land because it is privately owned. As we are installing toilets in many informal settlements in the Metro, we cannot install any in McCarthy.”
Miggels added that he will make every effort to address the remaining plight faced by the residents of Tinktinkie, which is the lack of roads between the houses to create a path for emergency services vehicles to access the area.
You must be logged in to post a comment.