Repairs to Olympic Road storm water drain cease for months
As the rainy season approaches, the hole is constantly flooding with water, posing a danger to pedestrians and the houses it borders.
Residents of Olympic Road in Blairgowrie are worried about unfinished repairs to a storm water drain that has been left unattended for months.
As the rainy season approaches, the hole is constantly flooding with water, posing a danger to pedestrians and the houses it borders.
“I have reported this problem numerous times to no avail. I am worried about passing pedestrians and that children may see this as an opportunity to play in it, which could be very dangerous,” said concerned Olympic Road resident Kevin Hutton.
He added that in 2019 there was a big storm that caused a lot of storm water to flow over the blocked drain and into Hutton’s property and his neighbour’s. This caused the dividing wall between the two properties to erode and it fell over causing flooding in their homes and a tremendous amount of damage.
“The following year, the same issue raised its head once again, so we know this story very well. When the first flood happened, we reported the issue and it was seen to by the Joburg Roads Agency [JRA]. I also asked them to replace our roadside curbs to help prevent further flooding in the future. This was not done, and if it was, these issues may have been prevented,” said Hutton.
According to Hutton repairs to the storm water drain were started and is awaiting further reinstatement.
Ward 102 councillor David Potter said, “The matter was raised with my office in February and again in early September. It was escalated again to the Joburg Roads Agency in early September who said they would investigate. No further update has been received.”
Potter suggested that JRA had been working with a smaller workforce due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused a severe backlog in road reinstatements across the city.
“The lockdown has furthermore set the JRA back in attending to outstanding service delivery matters such as this one. It is to be noted that this matter seems to be outstanding from January 2020. Storm water pipe damage following a water pipe burst repair is not uncommon, and repairs remain incomplete by the JRA at other locations in the region.
“I am trusting that the Joburg Roads Agency will resolve this without delay.”
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has responded to concerns over repairs to a storm water drain that have not been completed for months on Olympic Road, Blairgowrie.
Head of public relations and JRA stakeholder Sanele Zondi said their regional operations office was aware of the matter and endeavoured to escalate the issue.
Potter suggested that JRA had been working with a smaller workforce due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had caused a severe backlog in road reinstatements across the city.
Zondi confirmed this and said, “The region is working at a third of the workforce it normally uses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of these types of reinstatements are caused by other City entities and private contractors by digging on the road reserve while repairing or constructing new services.”
Zondi added that at the moment JRA could not cope with the number of issues but will endeavour to resolve this matter as timeously as they could.
