Huge water wastage in Despatch

THE recent rainfall we have been blessed with has provided some relief to our constantly looming water shortage in Nelson Mandela Bay. Yet the axe still hangs over our heads with the residents remaining on the verge of water restrictions and raised water tariffs.

I have had many run-ins over the past few months since my election as ward councillor and in my work in the Despatch area with municipal officials and plumbers. The situation depicted on Carte Blanche on October 5 is an exact replica of the situation in Despatch, maybe worse here.

Despatch residents are regularly left without water due to supply dams and reservoirs running dry as well as pipe bursts, not to mention failure to open valves by officials. I have a serious problem with this failure to open valves in the Despatch area.

Weekly, especially on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays, the reservoir runs dry for some inexplicable reason. The call centre reports "burst pipes" to "routine maintenance" as the cause.

After careful investigations due to the pattern I found that it is due to officials not opening the valve on time for the reservoir to fill up. I consulted the directorate and it was confirmed that they open it by hand due to no electric valves being installed.

Later I found that these valves had been purchased but are not being installed for some reason no one can agree on.

A bigger issue for concern is that whenever an official is busy and the valves are open they leave them open, causing the reservoirs to overflow daily with thousands of litres of fresh drinking water flowing down the road into stormwater drains, and adjacent parks and yards. This state of affairs I found is squarely to be laid at the feet of the directorate's management and lack of political will to address it.

High ranking officials informed me that union bosses, politicians and officials within the mayor's office interfere with the appointment of managers, plumbers and directors who can address this problem speedily.

Their refusal to do so has plunged the Uitenhage district plumbers into an overworked and dysfunctional team. Apparently they only have a third of the number of plumbers to do the work, the plumbers do not have teams to assist them, they do not have vehicles in running condition, and they battle to get tools and supplies to do the work.

Apparently there are emergency supply lines also in disrepair due to the refusal of the directorate to act and assist with maintenance to it. Further questions arise whether these emergency lines are leaking away somewhere in a forest or bush area.

Pump stations and surface valves have also been exposed due to security contracts and fencing not being paid or maintained, which further places the municipality at fault and a contributor to the biggest waster of water in the metro.

It is also reported that the meter system installation contract has not been renewed, which causes thousands of rands of revenue lost which also has to be borne by the ratepayers, not to mention the water losses at the meters where indigent families live as they do not have the means to fix the leaking water lines at meters. I have found that the staff working in these teams are extremely demotivated and overworked as a result of this union interference and pressure they are under to perform tasks outside of their scope of reference and responsibility.

Furthermore, the economic climate is already unstable and in dire need of investor confidence which the current administration is failing at dismally. The water supply and maintenance issue is evidence of this.

The governing administration in our municipality is quick to increase the rates and to instigate water restrictions, but constantly ignores preventative measures to address this issue that could lead to continued supply and less wastage. Water is a scarce commodity and neither rich or poor can live without it for even one day.

The municipality has an obligation to address first its own wastage and repair it before looking to the residents to bear the brunt.

I have made numerous attempts to get the electronic valves installed at the Despatch supply reservoirs. I have tried to get the directorate to take the issue seriously but to no avail.

The issues are addressed in the Port Elizabeth area where action sometimes is taken within the nick of time whereas the Despatch area sometimes waits for up to a month to get some issues addressed. Businesses suffer, residents fall ill, schools battle, clinics cannot open and the state of chaos we have to suffer from is unthinkable.

All this due to a simple administrative and political problem as well as incompetent senior personnel. I invite the mayor, city manager and whoever finds it important to visit Despatch any time of the day to witness the wastage of water brought about by their own institution at any of our eight fresh water reservoirs.

The residents are continuously seen as a cash cow to milk the repair costs from to fix the current government's mistakes and this needs to be addressed urgently. The DA believes that preventative maintenance and competent officials are the answer to addressing this issue.

This issue also highlights the need for localised government of a municipal council in the form of a sub council for the Uitenhage and Despatch district where these issues can be addressed locally by specialised local officials. This is something that the DA looks forward to implementing upon taking over governance of NMBM in 2016.

Francois Greyling, DA councillor for Ward 52, Despatch