DEAR Editor,-
There is a very tricky situation that people who travel the road between Harding and Port Shepstone on a regular basis have to contend with.
The road is used daily by many travellers in trucks, cars, construction vehicles, etc, while construction is in progress, and prior to Basil Read bringing some order, drivers had to endure bad tempers, rude, irresponsible, incompetent and reckless road users.
Basil Read is doing a wonderful job with orderly, organised and friendly staff members, who leave work sites neat and tidy, vehicles parked and clean with no litter and rubble lying around when off duty.
But whilst the workers are there, what do we have? Drivers who are in such a hurry to reach destinations, pick up their next fares, pushing in wherever they find a space, etc, and then they have the audacity to hoot at the workers!
The problem is that certain drivers believe that they have exclusive rights on this road and that everyone else has to give way to them and yes, some are taxis, but not the majority.
Yes, there have been accidents caused by recklessness, but drivers are rarely injured and it is usually passengers who come off worse. Taxis are overloaded and LDVs transporting schoolchildren carry in excess of 15 passengers, some with so many that canopy doors cannot be closed and children are seen hanging out the back.
Basil Read saves the situation on a daily basis by providing someone to direct traffic fairly and now there is no longer chaos and congestion at busy intersections where nobody can get through and no one gets a turn. So what if you have to wait a bit, patience is a virtue.
But where are our traffic officers and inspectors? Nowhere to be seen. Why? Because they sit in their vehicles at fast food outlets throughout Margate, Shelly Beach, Izotsha, Southcoast Mall, etc. Not at all perturbed with monitoring laws being broken, vehicles stopped illegally, overloading, overtaking on solid lines, vehicles with no indicators or lights, roadworthiness, etc.
Or the Ugu buses which stop every 200 or 300 metres to collect and drop passengers with no concern for drivers behind them. Who pays for these almost empty buses that run between Harding and Port Shepstone several times daily?
And what about huge potholes on the Izotsha road from Shelly Beach? Where are all our experienced workers and civil engineers in charge of construction? Probably not even trained or experienced enough, or sitting in air-conditioned offices looking busy.
It is time our municipalities on the South Coast realise that with these kinds of breakdowns in service delivery, visitors will stop coming to the South Coast. Stop complaining about the dwindling amount of visitors, get out of the office, look around, see what needs doing and get on with it.
VERY DISTRESSED
