Workers at East London’s Waterworld fun park downed tools on January 19 over wage issues, delaying the completion of the project further.
In October 2022, the Buffalo City Metropolitan Development Agency (BCMDA) confirmed to stakeholders that Waterworld would be ready by November 30, however, challenges with the main contractor, Mvusuludzo Projects, prevented this from happening.
Sub-contractors claim they have not been paid for November, December and January and were unable to pay their staff.
BCMDA spokesperson, Oyama Makalima, said: “The Waterworld project has experienced delays due to some contractual issues between the Agency and the main contractor, which among others is the non-payment of sub-contractors and SMMEs by the main contractor and challenges related to the geology of the site.
“BCMDA is working to resolve the issues with the main contractor so the sub-contractors and SMMEs can go back to site.
“BCMDA has indicated to workers that it is engaging with the main contractor to ensure payment is done.
“BCMDA has fulfilled all its payment obligations to Mvusuludzo Projects and currently does not have any contractual obligations to the general workers, however, we are exploring options on how this unfortunate situation can be remedied.
“We are engaging the contractor to establish when they can resolve their challenges on the payment of sub-contractors.
“At this stage, we cannot provide a definite time as to when work on the site will resume again, however, we are at an advanced stage of negotiations and are sure work will commence soon.”
In an interview with Algoa FM News in December, Makalima said Waterworld’s new completion date was set for July 2023.
Makalima said: “We still have some significant work around the sewerage system of the facility, however, people can look forward to BCM’s Waterworld officially opening in July 2023.”
“Our work as BCMDA is only beginning. Duncan Village, Mdantsane and Bhisho already have projects started with the intention of diversifying the city’s tourism attractions.”
