A Fairleigh resident is up in arms after a tree fell over into her yard last week Wednesday, during a severe storm, and allegedly damaged the congregated sheeting on her roof.
She claimed the incident was reported the following morning to the relevant departments, but was only attended to late Friday morning, January 25.
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According to the woman, municipal workers had been to her home to cut up the tree. However, they had apparently just left the cuttings in her yard once they had finished their work.
“They said they would be back at a later stage to remove the tree stumps, but they never said when exactly that would be,” she claimed.
What upset the resident the most was the damage done to her house and property as a result of the fallen tree.
“It damaged the wall as well as the roof sheeting. As a Fairleigh resident we already suffer with damaged houses and poor infrastructure, and now this?”
She was also worried someone might possibly get hurt with all the tree logs laying around, as children constantly walked around in the vicinity of her house.
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“This mess must be sorted out quickly.”
According to Director of Community Safety, Vish Govender, the municipality cut up 134 trees from last week Thursday until that Sunday.
He explained trees which had fallen on houses, had blocked up driveways or which had blocked rivers and roads were given priority, as the municipality was following a systematic approach to resolve the situation.
“We can’t just cut the trees; if they pose a danger it’s fine, but what if there is no storm for the next 50 years? It’s a two pronged thing,” he concluded.
