JRA reinstate road after pipe burst
After fixing the pipes, the JRA leaves the hole open to see if the pipe is still leaking.
Opal Crescent, Witkoppen Ext and Fairfield Estate have undergone a project to reinstate the street surface after a water pipe burst affected the area.
According to the acting head of regional operations in the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), Langeriwa Mthombeni, the JRA is responsible for the reinstatement of Opal Crescent and Witkoppen Ext. This is after Johannesburg Water (JW) had worked on the road to repair pipes.
“The road in the Fairfield Estate falls under the JRA’s jurisdiction and as such it is our mandate to repair the road. With regards to budget, it is divided between capital expenditure (capex) and operational expenditure. Specific infrastructure projects would be financed from capex while road maintenance is financed from the operations budget. As this is a road reinstatement for JW, JRA will undertake the repairs on behalf of JW who will be sent an invoice for the work undertaken,” said Mthombeni.
Inspector of Ward 94, John Seoketsa, was on the scene while the JRA was fixing the road. “There have been multiple pipe bursts over a period and some are on the road surface where the area has to be excavated or dug up for the repair to take place. Once the leak has been repaired and the backfilling has been done, the reinstatement of tar has to take place.”
He said after fixing a pipe, JW would leave the hole open for a few days or weeks depending on how big it is just to see if the leak or burst is properly fixed. “In Fairfield Estate, the call for reinstatement was logged on March 5 and was resolved on March 11. We are happy it did not take long to repair.”
Ward 94 councillor David Foley said these issues are the reason why he gives Ward 94 residents a platform to report all their service delivery issues in the area. “We have a lot of complaints which include pothole issues, water issues, account issues, valuation issues, Eskom issues, grass cutting and more. This is why I ensure that I copy them in my reply to the officials to ensure they are comfortable that it is receiving attention.” He holds weekly meeting to answer any questions residents have or help them elevate calls that are not being attended to.
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