PORT ELIZABETH
EX press 90 000 COPIES WEEKLY Wednesday, July 27, 2011
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Noordelike Voorstede / Northern Suburbs
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GAIL Road in Gelvandale, an important artery for high volumes of traffic, is riddled with various deep potholes, making travelling on it hazardous for road-users.
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Editor: Bettie Giliomee
Gail Road woes continue
ZELDRÉ SWANEPOEL
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The potholes seems to be caused by an underground water leakage, which is visible at points where water is bubbling through the tarred surface. The local ward councillor, DA Councillor Marshall von Buchenroder, says he has been inundated with complaints from residents about this issue. Von Buchenroder stated that he has been in constant communication with the authorities, but to no avail. “After numerous e-mails and telephonic conversations between myself and the relevant directorates, I requested that the road be closed. “It is evidently clear that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality does not have the capacity to render service delivery where it is needed the most. This road is also a main thoroughfare in the morning and afternoon peak hours for residents from the Western Suburbs,” said Von Buchenroder. He also pointed out that because the Gelvandale police station and the mortuary are situated in Gail Road, the road is also used by emergency vehicles. “A high volume of traffic uses this road and therefore it is my duty as ward councillor to see that this road is fixed as speedily as possible; however, water division is not serious about saving water or repairing water-leaks. The question that comes to mind is why we should save water as residents, but the institution is not eager to respond to repairs and save water on their behalf,” asked Von Buchenroder. The Gelvandale Magistrates Court is nearing completion, and is situated just off Gail Road in Helenvale. Architect Clive van der Riet, who has worked on the design and construction of this building, has major concerns about what impact the state of the road will have on people travel-
ling to the court. “It seems the municipality’s ability to fix potholes promptly and properly has deteriorated badly and in the case of Gail Road is non-existent. I use Gail Road weekly and since our heavy rains the potholes here have appeared and rapidly extended so that cars have to drive on the kerb on one side to get past,” he said. “When one looks at Helenvale and sees the lack of municipal attention to collecting piles of rubbish such as in Reginald Road near the court building being upgraded and in very many other places, it’s a wonder that the residents are so friendly. I’ve only been threatened once! “I’m not surprised that it’s a depressed gangland where it is not uncommon to hear gunshots in the middle of the day and to see all the people streaming to the place of the shooting
as if it’s an entertainment.” Van der Riet further said that he hoped the impressive Magistrates Court building would be a signal for change in the area. But the municipality and ward councillors will have to pull their weight and stop making excuses and putting the blame on lack of funds or technical reasons. Instead they could be, and perhaps already are, solving the technical problems and funding with initiative and getting the community behind them and possibly motivating the large number of unemployed people to contribute to getting stuck in to clean and fix up their neighbourhood in every conceivable way. “I believe the state of the environment can make a huge difference to the morale of a community and this gross lack of attention to suburban road and sidewalk repair and street
rubbish piles will definitely have a depressing impact on the community and throws a very bad light on the municipality and the local councillors, who should never have allowed this to get so bad and for so long.” Media Liaison Officer of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, Ongama Mtinka, said that they had done work in the area in the last three months but it kept recurring. “There seems to be underground water that causes the potholes. We have determined that we need to address that first in order to deliver a lasting solution,” Mtinka said. “On Friday last week we had an inspection in the area. We are going to patch temporarily while the water is being tested to determine whether this is municipal or natural ground water. Work will resume after the rains,” said Mtinka.
Ward 10 DA councillor Marshall von Buchenroder at just one of various potholes in Gail Road, Gelvandale. Swanepoel
Photo: Zeldré