Durban — The eThekwini Municipality recently announced that it was excited with the progress made in rebuilding the oThongathi Water Treatment Plant which was damaged during recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
“All is on track,” the municipality said.
“The earthworks is 80% completed while civil structures are at 90% completion. Mechanical, electrical, as well as electronic works are 70% complete.”
It added that contractors continue working hard to ensure that water is fully restored by the projected timeline, which is the end of October.
Reacting to the municipality’s announcement, resident Renisha Govinder said she really hoped that the people doing the job were qualified and that there would not be constant breaks and re-dos once the job was completed.
“Durban is broken,” she said. “The sewer works did not look heavily damaged by floods, it was not more than a month’s work… What is the delay?”
Sanjay Dharampaul said: “Good job. Icon Construction. Always on top of it.”
Sinothile Zwane said: “Looking forward to the 26th of October so I can stop basin washing.”
Ricky Reddy said he did not trust the municipality saying they would get clean running water at the end of October.
“They knew it would take six months to rebuild without inspecting the plant. They even knew the amount to complete this project which was far more than 31 million Rands. After the residents complained then the amount was dropped so much. This all could be completed within four months if we had members in the municipality with common sense…”
oThongathi residents are counting down the days until the end of October.
On September 22, Pregasen Don Perumall said the day marked 34 days to go as residents of oThongathi prayed that all goes well with turning on the water treatment plant.
Last month the municipality said that water was going to start flowing in parts of oThongathi.
It said that some residents would have water flowing from their taps again as early as two weeks ago.
This was confirmed by Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu and eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda during a community meeting at the Tongaat Indoor Sport Centre on September 16.
The restoration of water supply comes after the completion of a tie-in of the Mamba Ridge Pipeline from the Hazelmere Waterworks to the Mamba Ridge Reservoir.
The new connection will assist in directing two million litres of water a day from Hazelmere Dam to some parts of oThongathi.
Daily News