ABERDEEN NEWS — The turnout at the recent Community Meeting for Ward 7 (Aberdeen) was a huge improvement over the previous month’s attendance, and Cllr Rudy Jacobs led a lively discussion with a great deal of participation from the floor.
The first item presented was an application by the new owners of the Moertoe pub for a liquor licence, which was unanimously approved by the community members present.
Cllr Jacobs explained that he had sent many emails to the responsible officials in connection with service delivery issues, but had had little response. Some of the issues concerned the maintenance of infrastructure such as roads (a lot of potholes), and pipes (poor quality repairs to leaks) as well as litter and the state of the municipal tip.
Despite many promises, the grounds of the library and library hall are in a poor state, overgrown with weeds, and have not been tended for a very long time. The Dept of Public Works has been approached in this regard.
It appears there is no grader in town, as there is no money to fix the broken equipment. A front end loader belonging to a construction company working locally has been made available to help collect litter in the townships.
There was some discussion concerning the forthcoming elections for the ward committee, which are expected to be held at the end of March. It was explained that the ward committee is not a political body, but should represent all sections of the community. It was explained that only those who are registered voters in ward 7 and who live in ward 7 will be allowed to stand for the committee and to vote. Many of the newcomers to town were concerned that they are not registered in Aberdeen as they moved to the town after the last election. One couple subsequently went to the IEC office in Graaff-Reinet and found it a simple process to register as voters in ward 7.
Various general matters were raised, including the problem of cars speeding in town, youngsters racing around town on quad bikes, as well as some questions regarding the IDP. Commander of Aberdeen SAPS, Capt Qashani, spoke briefly at the end of the meeting to introduce himself and said that he would be pleased to be able to report the positive input and comments about SAPS to the rest of the members.
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