WHAT started off as a positive project to uplift the city economically has now turned into a nightmare for Bonaero Park residents.
The community has stepped forward and decided enough is enough after their cries for help reached deaf ears at Ekurhuleni Metro.
From overflowing sewage lines to noisy trucks using residential streets – it seems the construction of a jewellery manufacturing precinct is no longer welcome.
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The building of the precinct, situated along Bonaero Drive, began in September 2015 and construction was meant to take place over 15 to 18 months.
The facility was meant to cater for and promote light manufacturing of jewellery and other high end products and would include diamond cutting, polishing and trading.
However, the plan has now been altered slightly as half the precinct will remain a jewellery manufacturing hub, while the other half, according to ward councillor Andre du Plessis, will become a food packaging facility.
The residents’ complaints vary. They object to the location of the entrance to the precinct, the trucks from the construction site using residential roads and that the project is an extra burden on the already old and failing sewer system of the suburb.
According to Du Plessis, an agreement had been reached between the community and the project managers that the entrance to the precinct would be built on the northern or eastern side of the centre, and not on the corner of Bonaero Drive and Cote D’Azur Avenue, where it is currently situated.
“Right from the start, the community objected to the entrance being on Bonaero Drive. We have had public meetings since September 2015 during which we requested drawings and the plan for the entrance from the developers,” Du Plessis explained.
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Du Plessis enlightened residents that an official from the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development (GDARD) assured him during a site meeting on March 6 that the construction of the entrance on Bonaero Drive would only be a temporary situation.
“The official from GDARD said the current entrance under construction was only a temporary entrance for the construction period and that negotiations were underway with the property owner on the eastern boundary of the development to establish the permanent entrance on the eastern side of the development,” Du Plessis explained.
Furthermore, the official apparently told Du Plessis this process could take about three years to complete, should negotiations between the department and the owner not run smoothly.
“The concern is that there is no storm water management system in place which will inevitably result in some of the houses situated across from the precinct flooding, as well as some homes on Aeroparque Street where there is already a history of flooding,” the ward councillor explained.
Janice Vernon, a resident of Bonaero, says the community feels as if the metro did not consider their concerns about the entrance but instead went ahead and built it anyway.
“First they approached SAFAIR to have the entrance on their side but Safair refused. Then they went to the driving range but owners there also said no. So now they feel it is easiest to just override the community and build it here.”
Another weighty issue residents have been struggling with are the trucks from the construction site which drive through their residential streets, especially Aeroparque Street, instead of using the main roads.
This has started causing extensive damage to the roads and visible cracks are developing in the tar.
“The trucks weigh tons and are too heavy for the road. One time I counted, for two days in a row, 35 trips made by the trucks up and down our road. The trucks were also fully loaded, making them even heavier,” Vernon said.
Julia Mosia, community liaison officer for the project, was told by the truck drivers that Liviero gave them permission to use the street (Aeroparque) when making their trips down to the Bonaero Park Football Club sports grounds to dump the rubble from the project site.
According to Du Plessis, the trucks use the short cut to transport rubble from the construction site and illegally dump it in the wetland at the club grounds.
“This is in contravention of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act because it is illegal dumping into a wetland. You need a water-use licence for that.”
Liviero Group is a company sub-contracted by Phunga Holdings, who were hired by GDARD to complete the development.
Du Plessis and the residents feel that this construction will add to the already old and problematic, exhausted sewage system.
Du Plessis said the construction site used the municipal water lines instead of building their own temporary ones. This has already caused some flooding in the yards of some of the residents living on Bonaero Drive opposite the precinct.
Du Plessis attended a site meeting on August 11 where it was confirmed that the application by the construction company to connect the sewer line from their development directly into the council sewer line, had been approved and accepted by the metro.
The municipal sewer line is situated on the corner of Aeroparque and Cote D’Azure streets.
“I had raised this issue before and it was agreed that this would not be the ideal arrangement. The Bonaero sewer system is already in a state of collapse, mainly due to the failing infrastructure along Marignane Drive, where the existing pipes regularly overflow. As a result the sewage continually backs up and cannot reach the pump station,” Du Plessis explained.
Any added capacity to these sewer lines that are already not coping, is a recipe for disaster not only for the jewellery factory when it commences operation, but also for the entire Bonaero community, according to Du Plessis.
Du Plessis has sent many emails over the past few months to all the relevant officials at the metro and Phunga Holdings. Together they have also sat with some community members in various site meetings to express their dissatisfaction with the project. However, their cries haven’t been answered.
EXPRESS forwarded enquiries to both Ekurhuleni Metro and the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development (GDARD), but received no response.
