Drain blocks business

POLOKWANE – A horrific stench hangs over Pennylane Arcade between Landdros Maré and Market Street in the central business district due to a blocked drain.

Some of the business owners in the arcade said they had reported the problem to the municipality several times, and the municipality promised to send someone, but no one had arrived.

“We have been struggling with this problem since 2011. There were municipal workers here to see what the problem was, and they said they would come back, but never returned. The drain is also open and there was an elderly woman who fell into the drain and she was seriously injured. After the woman fell, we decided to put a concrete block on top of the drain just so that no one else falls into the drain,” one of the business owners said.

Another business owner said even though the concrete block was on top of the drain the sewage still overflowed and the sewage water ran down the arcade.

“It stinks. This is bad for our business, because clients don’t like the smell and it is also very bad for our health. What must we do to get assistance from the municipality?” the business owners wanted to know.

Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, said the municipal water and sanitation team unblocked the drain on April 18. She denied that the problem had first been reported in 2011.

“We have no record of a report being made in 2011. The reason for the blockage, which was attended to, was that the steel manhole cover was stolen, which left the manhole open for vandalism and all sorts of foreign objects to be dropped down the manhole,” she said.

Chuene added that the water and sanitation team found pieces of bricks and stones inside the manhole, which were blocking the flow.

“The entire manhole slab and the cover were replaced with concrete ones and the line was cleaned from upstream to downstream to ensure that the flow is uninterrupted,” Chuene said.

Water and sanitation issues can be reported at (015) 2920 2376/2001/2458.