A mysterious boat has caused more damage than expected after being found stranded at Sunrise-On-Sea last Friday. The boat had been laying there since at least Thursday night.
Picture: MATTHEW FIELD
Residents allege that the boat, a red Stingray inflatable named Sea-Queen, belongs to the department of environmental affairs.
The GO! & Express tried to confirm this with department spokesperson Albi Modise but no response had been received by the time of going to print.
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said that attempts to retrieve the boat were not only unsuccessful but had also led to the destruction of Sunrise-On-Sea’s board-walk.
“They [the team sent to recover the boat] came over from the Rainbow Valley side, but they didn’t turn around. Instead, they just drove over the board-walk,” they said.
When the GO! & Express arrived on Saturday, the boat was still stranded and there was evidence that parts of it had been stripped off.
The GO! also noted that the board-walk was broken almost to the point of being unusable.
Holes had been punched in the boards at regular intervals and their was a large muddy track that had been carved into the ground next to it.
Picture: MATTHEW FIELD
It looked like a heavy vehicle had recently driven over it with one side in the mud and the other side riding on the board-walk.
The Sunrise-On-Sea board-walk was initiated and designed by Kwelera National Botanical Garden.
Kwelera National Botanical Garden natural estate manager Charlie Maimela said they received the report about the damaged board-walk at approximately 9:30pm on Thursday November 21.
“We as the Kwelera National Botanical Garden have already started initiating the repairing process for the board-walk,” he said.
