Two long weeks without water in Port Edward

Port Edward residents who have been without water for two weeks have pinned the blame on Ugu District Municipality for failing to adequately maintain its infrastructure.

Led by the Port Edward and Banners Rest Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association, hundreds of people on Monday this week signed a petition at a meeting held to address the crisis.

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The petition was addressed to the minister of water affairs, Nomvula Mokonyane and Ugu District Municipality.

Demands put forward include the immediate restoration of the water supply, and for the municipality to be held accountable for for failing to provide adequate water security and services.

For more than a fortnight, residents have had to use buckets to collect water from a borehole at a local church and from static water tanks in Port Edward which they claimed were sometimes not replenished timeously by Ugu.

It is a major blow too to the local economy with businesses losing income and, in some cases, having to send staff home.

One bed and breakfast owner in Port Edward said she no longer accepted bookings due to the water situation.

“I have three b and bs, of which only one has a back up water supply. This means I am currently unable to generate an income from my other two properties.”

“The situation has become unbearable. Not only is it a health hazard, but it affects our income as some people here depend on tourism to put food on the table,” added another resident.

Port Edward ward councillor Dorica Mthuli has also been accused of remaining silent while the community suffers.

Repeated calls to Ms Mthuli’s cellphone went unanswered.

Ugu spokesman France Zama blamed the recent bad weather for the crisis.

“Restoration of water and sanitation services is currently underway following the recent catastrophic floods which crippled critical components of our water and sanitation infrastructure.” he said.

“In the aftermath of the floods we are experiencing large number of burst pipes due to the grounds drying thus affecting the pipes. Over the past weeks, a multifaceted task team was established to conduct a rehabilitation operation of the damaged infrastructure in line with our firm commitment of restoring water and sanitation services to the affected areas. Due to the massive damage caused to our infrastructure, restoration of full water supply to most areas has been delayed.”

Mr Zama said to date, major repair work had been completed and supply had been restored to most areas, except for Port Edward which is being attended to.

“Due to the fragile state of the Port Edward system, it is taking longer than expected to fully recover the system. However technicians are doing all humanly possible to ensure that operations return to a state of normality as soon as possible.” 

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