Roadwork delays plague Morningiside residents

SERVICE delivery delays has continued into the new year for fed up flat residents in Morningside’s Ninth Avenue who have waited more than five months for municipal contractors to return and resurface the road after new cables were laid.

Chutrapal Panday, a retired police sergeant, resident and supervisor at Beau Casa for the past 18 years, said he had made numerous attempts to the Municipal Road Department to re-tar the stretch of road after the new cables were laid in August last year. Panday’s woes also included the very faded yellow lines on Ninth Avenue, which led to motorists illegally parking along the busy road.

After reporting the service delivery issues in Berea Mail and with local ward councillor, Martin Meyer making enquiries, the municipality managed to re-tar a small portion of the road covering only the complex’s driveway. “This is not right, they (municipal contractors) only came after I called the paper. They only did a small patch which is our driveway, but dumped sand and debris on the pavement. The whole road is an eyesore. The rest of the road is filled with grass and weeds!”

Panday said the complex gardener had to weed the trench along their verge three times a week to prevent the overgrowth on the pavement.

Meyer said the City was contacted and scheduled the work before it appeared in the paper last year, “I received the report that the work was being done. Now that it has been brought to my attention that the work was not done to satisfaction, I will immediately follow up.”

Meyer explained the refreshing of the yellow lines is done according to a work schedule and is also dependent on the budget availability. “I have checked and the road has been put on the maintenance schedule for yellow lines. With regard to the weeds, parts of Ward 27 has been seen to, and I ask residents to be patient as we wait for the contractor to catch up.”