Gara calls for high solar masts and tarring of gravel roads during IDP session
Gara chairperson John Mphatsoe said beyond tarring of roads, they also want installation of solar high masts lights, to fight crime.
“I hope this will be the last time we are asking for gravel roads in Glen Austin to be tarred in the Integrated Development Planning.”
These were the words of Glen Austin Residents Association (Gara) chairperson John Mphatsoe during an Integrated Development Planning (IDP) session held at the Rabie Ridge Hall on April 6.
Mphatsoe said they have about six roads in the suburb that need to be tarred. Austin, Belvedere and Donovan roads are among the those that are still gravel roads.
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He said in the previous IDP sessions, residents had been submitting and requesting that the roads be tarred, but no action whatsoever has been taken in this regard.
“There is a serious problem in the suburb. The gravel roads cannot be graded in the state that they are in. There are big rocks cropping out and the water pipes also get damaged at times by the graders. I think maybe this will be the last time we ask in the IDP session that roads be tarred . Secondly, we ask for solar high-mast lights because Glen Austin doesn’t have street lights and we have a serious crime problem.”
Mphatsoe said as a patroller, talking from experience, criminals would hide anywhere and it is difficult for him and other patrollers to spot them.
“They will then fire [at us] from any angle. This puts our lives in danger. But if we can have the solar high masts, it will help a lot in terms of visibility.”
Read more: Glen Austin Resident Association re-elects Mphatsoe for the third time in a row
In an article, Gara wants proper infrastructure for A-class rates, [Week ending March 22], he said they want an improved state of infrastructure.
Mphatsoe said residents were paying A-class rates and deserve to have the proper infrastructure equating to what they are paying for.
He was speaking after being elected Gara chairperson for the record fourth time in a row.
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