#Letter: Plan for the future

Tony Psalia of Salt Rock writes:

I have been living in Salt Rock for 5 years and it’s very beautiful here.

There has been unbelievable growth in housing and development, which is good and bad.

The good is that more people get to live or holiday on our magnificent coast and bring money into local businesses, creating jobs. A win-win for all, but is it?

The bad is with growth, failing infrastructure and lack of maintenance, we are just asking for trouble.

We locals feel this every day with no water, no electricity and roads so damaged even 4x4s get hurt.

Next year is going to be a test for everyone who relies on Eskom for their electricity because if the news is true, they will be shutting Koeberg power station in Cape Town in stages for maintenance – each stage taking up to but probably more than 6 months each, so this is going to go on for a few years.

When I lived in Australia over 40 years ago the federal government decided to start selling off public utilities that were costing a lot to keep running.

So, they sold off public utilities and let the new owners carry the expense of upgrading.

As a result, citizens got cheaper electricity, phone calls and water and a wider choice of suppliers.

With elections behind us, it’s time to start planning long term projects. There are 2 that come.

First, build an integrated bicycle track from Ballito along the beach road all the way to Sheffield, back through Mount Richmore and to Ballito.

Second, it’s about time the municipality put in concrete sidewalks.

Thousands of people walk to work every day on roads and wet grass. This is unsafe.

The paths would create work and employment for years and make the town and surrounding areas far more functional and appealing.

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