Cllr urges community to work together in lighting up the Bluff
Ward 66 councillor, Zoe Solomon has asked that the community assist her by not only lodging a complaint on dysfunctional street lights but by further engaging with her on the progress of their reports.
FAULTY street lights remain a concern on the Bluff, often providing the perfect advantage for yard hopping and the theft of goods from residential properties.
In her mission to address the issue, ward 66 councillor, Zoe Solomon has asked that the community assist her by not only lodging a complaint on dysfunctional street lights but by further engaging with her on the progress of their reports.
“The whole of Solomon Mahlangu Drive coming into the Bluff and Zinto Cele Road near the old councillor’s office street lights aren’t working due to cable theft. Airlie Road near the new whale watching view site is also affected as well as other light poles throughout the area.
“This is a massive issue. It is the city’s responsibility to keep the streets lit. Up until March, we didn’t have a contractor for nearly three years. The Bluff has lists dating back to this time of lights that have not been working. I thought that these would be attended to in chronological order but they haven’t. It is being done sporadically so that is also unhelpful. But I am grateful that it is being attended to by the city after so long of having no contractor and resources. But that has all been remedied. I just need the city as well as the residents to meet me halfway so that I can deliver the service that I’m employed to do.
“I keep a list and I rely heavily on people to tell me when things get fixed because I need to escalate issues weekly. I have spreadsheets for each department. Whenever I get a complaint, through whatever medium, I make a record of it and then every single week I send email or WhatsApp correspondence to the people who have complained to follow up on the issue. I tick it off if it has been resolved, if not I escalate it by sending a consolidated spreadsheet to the relevant department heads.
“Where the ball gets dropped is when people don’t come back to me. It helps a lot when members of the community inform me about the progress, or lack thereof, of their complaints. I need to know what still needs to be addressed and what should be marked off as resolved to avoid time wasted escalating things that have been attended to. This in turn can break down my good relationship with the various departments. I need a lot public participation. Especially with issues such as faulty street lights. I need a proper audit and it requires the community to work with me. I can’t take my list and drive around at night to inspect which lights are working and which ones aren’t. If you took the time and effort to contact me about something that was wrong, could you please let me know when it’s right,” urged Solomon.
