City residents have pointed out that recently repaired roads are once again in an ’appalling’ state and full of potholes.
AS THE rainy season intensifies in Kimberley, residents have become more concerned about the state of the city’s roads.
Residents pointed out that recently repaired roads were once again in an “appalling” state and full of potholes.
They blamed the poor condition of the roads on “sloppy” work done by Sol Plaatje municipal workers.
“There are always huge advertisements from the municipality where they shout how they are fixing the roads. One cannot even get excited about the municipal employees working on the roads because they always do a half-job,” said one resident.
“When they fixed the roads recently, a truck filled with tar was used. One worker would take a spade, fill it with tar then pour it into the pothole. Thereafter, the municipal workers would stamp on that hole and press the tar down into the hole. Once that process was complete, they would move on to the next pothole. It is shocking … even a child can do that. Yet these employees get paid salaries for this shoddy work.
“The rain that fell recently was not even that severe, yet those roads are now in the same condition they were in before.
“It is of no use that the municipality claims that they are working on the roads, but at the end of the day they leave the roads in a worse condition. The municipality is just wasting money.”
Residents also complained that municipal workers “consistently leave their work undone”.
“Whenever municipal workers work on something, there is always something that will go wrong or be left unattended afterwards. They either dig huge holes and leave them open, or they only fix one side of the road. It is just incomprehensible how municipal workers operate.”
Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Thoko Riet said that challenges with suppliers at times hamper the repair work.
“We normally use hot premix to fix potholes, which is durable and lasts long, but at times the plant supplying this material is closed for long periods due to breakdowns. In this case, we use cold premix for emergency repair work to avoid pothole damage to vehicles,” said Riet.
“We urge drivers to drive with caution as we are embarking on fixing the roads,” said added.
