HIGHVELD – Over the past couple of months the laying down of fibre lines caused numerous damages to municipal water pipes and cables.
DA-councillor, Ms Mariaan Chamberlain said that in one day, nine water pipes and a cable were been damaged by fibre contractors.
“Residents had to go without water for days as our teams couldn’t cope with their normal work as well as all the damages,” said Ms Chamberlain.
Excavation from the contactors was halted on June 21 for an agreement to be reached.
Ms Chamberlain said that the contractors are still not sticking to the agreement and are doing more damage.
The agreement was as follows:
• No excavations are allowed later than 15:30.
• No excavations are allowed on weekends.
• Where excavations are done by digging open big holes, they cannot be left open for longer than 48 hours.
• Penalties will be charged for damaged infrastructure. This process was explained to everyone present in the meeting.
• No new poles to be erected in areas where Telkom has infrastructure.
• Should the contractors want to lay cable in a resident’s yard, they will have to do it with the owner’s consent.
• Areas where excavation has been done needs to be properly restored.
Ms Chamberlain said that if areas are not properly restored, residents should send her a photo with the address details to 082 850 1567.
“We have one of GMM’s trained and qualified plumbers on sites to do an oversite on the excavation,” said Ms Chamberlain.
She said GMM is taking strain with the added damage the contractors are causing.
“GMM needs to work on other daily issues. For Telkom, five different contractors are working in different areas all over town. It is difficult for municipal officials to keep track of the daily excavations and damages.”
She said it was mentioned that 18 water pipes were damaged in one day.
“The contractors said the municipality must understand that they have challenges with the hard soil.
“Municipal officials said they do not want to hear their excuses. If they blame the soil then they are not the right people for the job,” said Ms Chamberlain.
