QHAMANI LINGANI
Residents of Bramleigh Road in Summerpride have been having a problem with their road for the past 23 years.
They claim that when they call Buffalo City Metro (BCM) to come and fix the road, they are told the road will be fixed in the next financial year – each year.
According to Trevor Dalton, two BCM officials have been to see the road, but the only thing they do is patch the road and when there are heavy rains, the road washes away.
“I am the chairman of the neighbourhood watch here and people come to me to complain about this road. I am the only person who has tried to contact the BCM, but they only patch up the road. This road needs to be fixed from scratch, not this patching they are doing. If you look carefully, some parts of this road are sinking in. It has been 23 years now, we are told about the next financial year every time we call,” he said.
Dalton fixed his drive-through with a private company and has had that piece of road for years and he says that is exactly what he wants the BCM to do.
Another resident, Robert Jenses said: “This road must be tarred once and for all, if they [municipality] can do that they will never hear us complain again. We complain because we pay taxes and rates each month but no one is doing anything about our grievances.”
Dalton also said the municipality must put a sign at the bottom of the street that shows that road is a dead end road, because huge trucks from Johnson and Johnson get to their road and struggle to turn around, so they damage their lawn and the trees by the road.
However, BCM spokesman Samkelo Gqeba said the BCMM Roads branch did maintain Bramleigh Road, Summerpride in February and August last year and January and April this year.
He added that if there is any structural deformation on the road due to recent heavy rains, the department will assess them and attend to them accordingly.
