Progress update on local reinstatements

COUNCILLOR NORMAN MCFARLANE, WARD 84, SOMERSET WEST

After consultation with officials and the Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien, I am able to provide feedback on the current progress being made toward addressing the dreadful situation of water reinstatements in Somerset West and the Helderberg.

A term tender will be in place by about mid-November.

Once it is in place, contractors can be appointed to deal with the work packages that have been assembled by Water and Sanitation, the responsible directorate. Each work package groups reinstatements in a contiguous geographic area.

A work package consists of 1 000 sq/m of reinstatements, and it is estimated that each will take seven weeks to conclude. Work packages will be allocated and will run concurrently, not one at a time.

Only once a work package is accepted by a contractor will timelines and programs of action be available for specific areas.

Residents may have noticed that the really bad reinstatement at intersection Lourensford and Hillcrest roads, has been repaired and tarred. Note this is being done by City Roads Infrastructure Management resources, because it is on a high priority list of the top five in Ward 84. It does not from part of a work package.

It is worth noting that the City has over 4 000 outstanding reinstatements across the Metro, so this is most certainly NOT a Somerset West problem only. We fall in Area East, and we actually have the lowest number of outstanding reinstatements compared to the other areas in the City.

I want to assure you that we are NOT being short-changed in any way by the City when it comes to the reinstatement matter.