Merlewood electrification due to continue
Yesterday (Wednesday), Mr King confirmed that the subcontractor received payment from the municipality and is due to return to site.
It has been three years since families moved into the RDP houses at the Merlewood mixed income housing development in 2018.
After numerous hiccups in the electrification project, resulting in it being halted, the subcontractor is set to return to site.
This comes after an ongoing outcry from the community, which vented its frustrations and heartbreak surrounding the issue.
“It is getting colder now and we still have no electricity. It’s so dangerous using paraffin and gas, especially with toddlers around. It is also costly to refill those cylinders,” explained a mother.
Other concerns included those of elderly residents, who had ailments such as bad eyesight, arthritis and asthma, and how living in such an environment is not at all conducive to their health.
According to community liaison officer and chairman of the Merlewood RDP committee, Mervin King the electrification project currently sits at 90% completion.
“It began in February 2020 and was interrupted due to Covid-19. The project resumed in June 2020 and was expected to be completed in three months.
Thereafter, the contractor and Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) ran into complications, halting the operation in December.
A subcontractor was then sourced by the municipality to complete the work.
After running out of funds due to non-payment, the subcontractor stopped work until payment was received in full,” explained King.
According to King, payment should have been made at the end of May, the project was due to be completed on June 3 and the outage date for electricity would have been this Tuesday (June 8).
Upset Merlewood residents gathered on Tuesday this week, seeking answers from RNM as to why the electrification process was taking so long to complete.
The group proceeded to RNM’s Technical Services Department, where they spent the morning and early parts of the afternoon waiting for project managers to address them.
Mr King chaired the discussion between community and project managers, and reported that payment was set to be made that same day (Tuesday).
According to RNM spokesman, Simon April, “The issues between the agent (contractor) and the employer or principal (RNM) are treated with confidentiality, however I can indicate that the issue here has been due diligence on the side of the latter (RNM) as payments are made from public funds and are rightfully audited. What one can say is that action is being taken to ensure adherence to terms of the contract by all parties concerned.”
Yesterday (Wednesday), Mr King confirmed that the subcontractor received payment from the municipality and is due to return to site.
Unfortunately, the delay in payment will cause the entire process to be put on hold again, as another outage date will have to be arranged with Eskom.
However, residents are relieved that the project will be up and running again.
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