Garbage and rubble block Midrand’s drains
MIDRAND - The Johannesburg Road Agency, in partnership with Region A Citizen Relationship and Urban Management Department, carried out a service delivery and clean-up campaign in the Midrand CBD.
The projects included cleaning up of storm water drains, the rebuilding of kerb inlet supports and the replacement of broken and unsafe kerb inlets whereby rubbish is deliberately shoved into the drains which results in the clogging of the CBD’s drains. This is according to the Johannesburg Road Agency who have to clean the drains regularly as part of their road infrastructure maintenance.
The morning of 19 November was no exception.
The agency was out with workers on the roads, clearing rubble, unclogging drains and fixing tar on the roads.
“We have to continuously fix the concrete slabs on the drains by either replacing them or building support mechanisms in order for them to withstand trucks that park on them,” said Bertha Peters-Scheepers, spokesperson for the agency. They attribute these desperate measures to delivery trucks that illegally park on the slabs in order to make their deliveries. This is illegal and should Metro police be made aware of this, the trucks face possible fines. The agency has had to rebuild concrete bollards on some streets.
“We’ve resorted to building concrete bollards, because unfortunately alternative materials such as steel is vandalised and sold to scrapyards”, said Peters-Scheepers.
The team’s work included the resurfacing of parts of some roads and the paving of a sidewalk along Penny Road towards Gallagher Estate which cost R97 000.
The tar that was ridden with potholes at the intersection of Old Pretoria Road and South Street , “due to weather damage”, and was removed and the road was tarred again.
When asked about the threat of rain damage, the agency reassuringly said, ”We’ve used a different mechanism this time, the rain water will not be on the tar long enough to cause damage.”
