Madam – Suppose we just have to GABI?
GABI? Clue – when times are tough and things are wrong, you have to smile and carry on. Smile? – Grin. Carry on? – Bear it.
With the situation our country is in, corruption, money laundering and unethical politics, as well as more immediately, our own municipality, suppose we just have to grin and bear it? Honestly, just by the amount of complaints of their services, that should rightfully be delivered to taxpayers, majority of us are very upset.
Especially when you can see right in front of you, totally inefficient services and mismanagement.
Example – it takes around 20 workers like a month to just fix a 10metre pavement, that should not have even been broken in the first place.
There was a water leak behind the pavement. To get to it, the pavement itself was broken up into pieces. Upon seeing this I assumed that the same pieces will be assembled again. Kind of like a Lego puzzle in a sense.
Yet, the pieces were not marked and even though they were still there after the pipe was fixed, I suppose that it was ‘too challenging’ to put back?
Then a few months pass and the decision is taken to put a new pavement.
All good we thought. But it takes like a month to make a 10metre pavement, of totally lower standards than the original. Really now?
The ‘workers’, (sic) were seen, majority of the time, doing nothing but lazing around the whole day, talking to each other and chatting on their phones. Much the same as the current people that are now changing all the pipes from concrete to plastic so no more burst pipes.
ALSO READ: An open letter to the municipality
Fine and well. Much asked for and needed. BUT, they are taking forever and again, majority of the time, like a social visit to them.
What really got me questioning efficiency of them is that yesterday afternoon, Monday 23rd April, another concrete pipe burst in Asnika Crescent. On the one side of the road, that around 3 months ago, the pipes were replaced.
But, this said side was not replaced, as the workers moved on to different parts of Asnika Crescent. Even Centre Street and St. Thomas Street, doing slap dash jobs again.
Only to be stuck on Monday night having to repair a burst pipe exactly where they were replacing pipes a few months back. Should they not have repaired both sides of the road while they were there?
Mismanagement?
Well, also, the actual work standards. Some yards, even though quite a few weeks have passed, are still waiting for their driveways to be returned to the state they were found in before being broken down by workers, who you wonder IF, are even qualified?
Suppose that we can see first-hand, that our country and municipality is going down, but just have to GABI?
One Of Many Concerned Citizens who GABI
Response issued by the Newcastle Municipality Communications Unit:
We appreciate the opportunity given to comment on the letter that you forwarded to us. The project at Lennoxton is managed as follows;
The engineer is responsible for all work done including designs and professional liability. The appointed contractor does the actual construction for all construction including a 1 year defect liability.
There is a Community Liaison Officer (CLO), who works hand in hand with the Councillor and is responsible for all communal communication including any complaints.
The CLO is responsible for ensuring that all complaints received from residents are forwarded to the Councillor and the engineer. The engineer visits the point of complaint and instructs the contractor to attend to the complaint.
The complaint regarding the driveway was received by the municipality and addressed. However it is important to note that the project is 60% complete. The main task at this point is to replace AC pipes by UPVC pipes. The strategy is to ensure that the driveways are easily drivable. No proper replacement of driveways has been done yet, however the contractor ensures that they are drivable.
Repairs of driveways:
Once all pipe works and digging is done, the repair of all damaged infrastructure will then commence. That is when large quantities of materials such as paving bricks, welding of gates and road crossings are going to be purchased. It is economically sound to purchase in large quantities for a contractor in order to concentrate on the main activity and in this case restoring drive ways to their original and even more better condition.
It is important to note that the driveway repairs has not yet commenced however we make sure that they are usable. Thorough work, as mentioned earlier, will commence once all digging has been completed. Of importance again, the staff working on this project is appointed by the contractor.
Important customer note:
Once complaints are raised by residents, it is important that the residents are given correct information by the CLO and the Councillor. In this case, the resident driveway is in a usable condition and final repairs are going to be done as explained above.
In conclusion, the pipe replacement project is a project done in an existing environment. It is our responsibility as a municipality that none or little inconvenience is caused to customers. That is why you will note that the complainant indicated that we repaired one side of the street in Aniska Cresent, this is done to avoid water shutdown. By closing pipes on one side we utilize water on the pipe from the other side of the street. If we shut all the pipes on both sides of the street that entire street will be left with no water for over a week while we are busy replacing pipes.
Hence all driveways are usable as we use only one side of the street so that the pipe on the other street can provide services.
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