City roadworks threaten businesses
Nine months after roadworks began, businesses at Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street continue to suffer losses as road works block parking and access to their stores.
BUSINESSES located on Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street continue to face losses and possible closure nine months after road works began to upgrade the stormwater pipes along the busy road.
Kay Rai, a popular businessman in the area said he faces having to close down his electrical repair company after more than 30 years on Magwaza Maphalala (Gale) Street.
“After nearly nine months of constant complaints, calls and faxes first to the municipality and then directly to the engineers and contractors involved to cover the huge trenches outside my store they finally did it last month. However there is just sand covering the road without tar so people are afraid to come in.”
Begging and pleading with project managers and engineers did not help Rai who said he had received a gentleman’s agreement and shook the hand of the owner of the construction company who promised to have the road restored three weeks ago.
“For months I had asked them to cover the trenches and they told me they needed to get new sand which had to be tested, then suddenly they used the sand from further up the road that I had begged them to use! The front of my shop is still blocked off and customers only have a dangerous access to the entrance, making it almost impossible to bring in retail business,” said Rai.
Young Rico Kazadi of BM Masterz, said his dad had opened a branch of a car spares and repairs company in Durban for him to run. “There is no parking for our customers here and we have to actually drive customers’ cars to Pietermaritzburg to get them repaired because there is no access to our shop here. We have to run across the road with spares for customers and try to do only small repairs. It is very inconvenient,” he said.
Kazadi said they were running at a loss and his father has considered closing the store but he has asked him to hang in the hopes that the road gets fixed soon.
Businessman, Brian Vickery of Cable Systems said it was ridiculous that the road works took more than nine months. “You can’t even calculate the loss and damage to our businesses and turnover. We have had to physically carry materials to the back of the building on another road which led to loss of time and labour implications because we did not have access to deliveries and dispatching. I just want them to finish this road so we can have a normal existence,” added Vickery.
