GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Members of the Graaff-Reinet ratepayers have recently raised concern around the trucks that have been lining up to extract water from the fire hydrants in town.
They were first extracting from the hydrant on the corner of Park- and Stockenstroom Streets but then moved to the hydrant on the corner of Park-, Rothman- and Bourke Streets.
The primary concern relates to the fact that these tankers are draining the reservoir which takes time to refill. The tankers are at least 5000 liters and several trips a day are made.
This has been going on for weeks and the strain on the reservoir on the must be immense. In addition to this, on Thursday, 19 August 2021, the hydrant broke, and an enormous amount of water went to waste. “When our water is drained dry, will anyone come to our aid?”
It has been confirmed that the water is transported to uMasizakhe, but the ratepayers fail to understand why the municipality is spending money on trucks to supply water instead of repairing the water supply infrastructure.
At this stage it is also unclear who these Natal registered trucks belong to and into whose pockets the money is going.
It has since come to light that the DBNLM is, in fact, in process of repairing the water supply infrastructure in uMasizake. It appears as if they are also expanding on the existing water supply infrastructure in order to adequately meet the water needs of this community.
Again, questions are raised around the service provider and the service level agreement since it is unclear who the service provider is and whether the service provider is indeed suitably qualified to do the job. And, of course, into whose pockets the money is going.
A member of the Graaff-Reinet ratepayers raised all of these questions and concerns with the DBNLM but the only response received from Bennie Arends, DBNLM Director of Infrastructure Services was the following: “In terms of arrangements in the Municipality, the Mayor and MM are the only persons who are authorised to speak on behalf of the Municipality.”
The DBNLM also failed to respond to the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser’s request for comment in this regard.
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