Residents feel unsafe in the streets of Lithuli
“Our streets are slowly turning into dams. We are not safe,” says some concerned residents of Lithuli Phase 4.
LIMPOPO – Excavated holes caused by an upgrading road arterial in the Lithuli area devastated the neighborhood’s residents with the conditions of their streets.
The excavated road has, according to residents, left the roads filled with water along the streets and they fear the craters are too close to some residents’ houses.
Residents complain that with the recent rains the dug-up pits have now been filled with water and they are concerned about the municipality not making any progress for four months now.
“We are now in the festive season and we have load-shedding which makes it more dangerous for children and people to walk safely on the road, especially when the power is out and no lights are on, because someone might fall into the holes filled with water,” a resident explained.
According to The Polokwane Municipality, the contractors have requested an extension of time until February 20, 2023 and will apparently start with the layering work early next year.
Residents expressed their concern about not seeing any contractors doing oversight in the area.
“We feel our safety is compromised and as we head into the festive season our children and pedestrians will be roaming the streets, which poses an even bigger danger when the holes are filled with water,” another concerned resident said.
Polokwane Municipality spokesperson Thipa Selala said: “During box cutting for the roadbed, the contractor noticed some of the residence boundary walls have encroached on the streets that they were working on, which necessitated the need to relocate the storm water line as it would take longer to resolve the boundary encroachments.”
He added upon rerouting the line, the contractor further encountered the underlying hard rock along the new storm water route, which can only be removed through controlled blasting methods, and had to slow down some of the activities on the critical path as they had to source a blasting specialist for the rock due to its close proximity to properties.
The contractor also experienced delays due to excessive rains from September to date.
“The contractor will not be done before Christmas as they are still working on the rock which is expected to completed in January next year. During holidays the contractor will ensure that residents have access to their households by levelling the road with the grader to ensure that it is usable and maintaining site safety,” Selala added.
