Water tankers a no show in Marburg
Residents want Ugu to provide a more efficient water tanker service.
GOING without water for almost 24 hours frustrated and angered many Marburg residents last week.
There was a major pipe burst on the Main Harding Road close to the Marburg/Gamalakhe intersection last Wednesday afternoon.
Over the past few years South Coasters have become quite used to water supply interruptions but what irks home and business owners is the lack of concern shown by staff at the Ugu District Municipality’s call centre.
Their pleas for water tankers were ignored.
An irate resident told the Herald that all attempts to elicit help from Ugu’s call centre fell on deaf ears.
“It has reached a point where we have had enough and want answers. Besides Wednesday’s water woes, our taps also ran dry last Sunday, when Ugu organised a planned water supply shutdown from 8pm to 5am. Once again, no water tankers were sent out,” she said.
Another Marburg resident, Rodney Naidoo, said that during water interruptions, tankers needed to provide “this precious resource which is vital for residents.”
“In all the time we have been having these supply problems, I have never seen a water tanker in our area. We have asked Ugu on numerous occasions what the problem is, but we never get answers,” he said.
Spokesman for Ugu District Municipality, Sphelele Cele said water tankers were made available to the affected areas. However, she said, the route taken by the driver might not have included the affected residents’ houses.
“Ugu will check the routes taken in the future. The call centre usually directs the water truck drivers to special routes as requested by consumers from time to time. Consumers are advised to call and make such requests when there are water interruptions,” she said.
Anyone experiencing water interruptions can contact the call centre at 0800 92837.
