Lowveld Hospital was recently immersed in an expensive dilemma when some of the cables supplying power to the facility were cut. This was a gross error, however, the parties involved disagreed on who had been responsible.
One of the main electric cables was damaged when subcontractors dug a trench to install fibre-optic cables. “We had to run a diesel generator for 12 hours continuously, which was immensely expensive,” said
Mr Armand van der Merwe, CEO of Lowveld Hospital. “The work has also not been completed as they did not obtain permission from the municipality before they started digging.”
Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) had formally informed Van der Merwe that the project did not have the required approval and had been stopped as a result. The main goal was to install underground fibre-optic cables running from Mbombela train station to the Sita offices in Nel Street. Summons had now also been issued against the principal contractor, Broadband Infraco.
Mr Johann van Rooyen, the technical manager at Lowveld Hospital, provided the subcontractor with a breakdown of the facility’s diesel usage during the 12-hour power cut which amounted to R9 051.
But Mr Bennie Mohlala, the managing director of JCS Developers and Construction, who was the subcontractor said he could not accept responsibility for the damage to the cables and the collateral power failure and extra diesel costs.
“We are contracted to do work for Broadband Infraco based on permission by Mbombela on services underground. Unfortunately the power cables’ depth and position are not as per the way leave provided,” he wrote in an email to Van der Merwe.
Van der Merwe had notified MLM about the incident and had requested that the company refund Lowveld Hospital for the diesel used during that period.
“The work has now been stopped but the damage has been done. The delay is a real inconvenience as our patients and clients have to navigate past the construction daily,” he said.
At the time of going to print MLM had not yet responded to the newspaper’s questions.
