DEAR Editor,-
For the past several months I have done my best to bring to the attention of HCM the increasingly dangerous conditions in Berea Road, Southport.
In September 2013, after several phone calls, I decided to actually take photos myself and send them to HCM, where they were acknowledged by the Services Department (ref 6213) who apparently passed on a request for action to be taken . Copies were also sent to the area manager, Peppy Govender, who unfortunately failed to respond. Appeals have also been made to the local councillor who, despite his efforts and understandable frustrations, has thus far been unsuccessful.
As you can see from the attached photos, the growth of ‘bush’ from an adjacent property has overgrown to almost 50 percent of the available road surface and the situation has become more dangerous by the day, especially for those of us who try to maintain our roadside verges in pristine condition. My painted curbs are also now destroyed by repeated contact with passing vehicles trying to avoid each other.
In desperation, my wife and I, both pensioners approaching our 70s, have begun clearing.the problem ourselves and you can now clearly see the area actually recovered from the road surface. But I do object to having to carry out such maintenance at our own cost when we already pay exorbitant rates for literally no ‘services’ whatsoever, only to watch gangs of able-bodied so-called ‘service personnel’ stand idly by the roadside in the more central districts on the South Coast.
Obviously the municipality wants to impress passers-by with clean and tidy high streets and give the impression of regular maintenance, but a short trip off the main highways and byways will reveal the real face of the South Coast – abandoned, dirty and neglected. A sorry and sad state of affairs.
As in most cases, there is obviously more than enough money available in the coffers of the municipality if properly managed, especially if they stopped paying for incompetence at all levels, concentrated as much attention in collecting from ‘defaulters’ as they do from regular and loyal ratepayers, and cut out bribery and corruption.
I am by no means a ‘political animal’, but clearly we need to change the face of Hibiscus Coast Municipality before it’s too late.
MAD MIKE BROWN
Southport
