ONLY the municipal pools in Rosedale, Despatch and KwaNobuhle will be opened to the community for the hot summer season whilst the High Street Pool in Uitenhage will remain closed.
According to the Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture agenda, 21 pools are provided throughout the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, but due to structural defects and drought, only nine pools were opened during the 2018 and 2019 summer season.
Fortunately, this year the number of pools that will be opened has increased to 11 which include the Rosedale, Despatch and KwaNobuhle pools.
Ward 51 councillor, Pieter Terblanche said he was informed by the metro that owing to budget constraints the High Street Swimming Pool in Uitenhage which has been closed since November 2018 will not be opened to the residents during the 2019 and 2020 season.
Terblanche said early in the year funds were allocated to drill for water to fill up the swimming pool.
An amount of R 800 000 is in the budget, but an amount of R 1.8 million is required.
“We were lucky enough for the metro to drill for water at the swimming pool, which in turn meant that the drought will not be an excuse for not opening the gates for community members during the 2019 and 2020 summer season,” Terblanche said.
He said residents have raised many questions about the community pool which he has forwarded to the municipality but has received no response.
“It is shocking and sad to see the state of the pool in the surrounding areas,” Terblanche said.
The SRAC agenda stated that owing to high maintenance requirements which include replacing sand filters and retiling the entire pool that requires capital investment, High Street pool will not be opening this season.
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