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TUESDAY 12 November 2019 | Tel: 021 910 6500 | Email: post@peoplespost.co.za | Website: www.peoplespost.co.za
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People’s Post
Fire razes building A fire broke out at a derelict building on the corner of Josephine and Talana Road in Claremont, in the early hours of morning on Thursday 7 November. Fire services rushed to the scene. Read full story on page 7. PHOTO: FIRE SERVICES
KENILWORTH
Booms take a knock NETTALIE VILJOEN
T
he booms at Kenilworth Station have been a bone of contention since it stopped working towards the end of last year. And the hits just keep on coming, literally. Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott says the booms have repeatedly been vandalised since the upgraded system, which include new trackside equipment, booms and LED flashlights, became active on 4 August (“Booms get green light”, People’s Post, 20 August). “The technicians have repaired and declared it safe every time,” Scott says. The level crossing is closed during peak
hours – 06:20 to 08:20 and 17:00 to 18:15. Community activist Henk Egberink speculates that frustrated motorists caught in peak-hour traffic might be to blame. “The congestion along Wetton and Imam Haron roads is a nightmare. There are quite a few motorists who are taking chances and forcing their cars past the booms,” Egberink says. The reopening of the booms at peak times is a suggestion supported by many residents. A change.org petition, started by Harfield resident Amrain Ismail-Essop about six weeks ago, has, at the time of going to press, garnered the support of 1 200 people, and counting. In his online petition, Ismail-Essop says
OPTOMETRIST
traffic congestion was greatly reduced during the time that the booms were out of commission. “We would like the booms at Kenilworth to be reopened and safely manned during peak times. While we do understand that trains carry many of our fellow citizens to work daily, we do see that there is more than enough time between trains, to be able to reopen the crossing for motorists and pedestrians,” he writes. Sharon Cottle, the councillor for ward 58, says in a recent letter to Richard Walker, Prasa’s Western Cape regional manager – on behalf of the External Stakeholders Engagement Meeting – Walker was urged to look at all possible options for the operation of the
Kenilworth railway station booms during peak traffic hours. She says while the opening of the booms may to some extent reduce congestion during peak hours in Kenilworth, this should not be addressed in isolation. She says they are waiting on a response from Prasa. “I have appealed to them to undertake a risk assessment of all options and to reassess the closing times,” says Cottle. Ian Iversen, councillor for ward 59, says he has emailed George Kiewiets, Metrorail special project manager for the Western Cape, regarding the peak-hour closures, asking him to bring the following to the attention of Prasa’s management. V Continued on page 2.
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