KNYSNA NEWS - The staff and owner of Knysna Fine Art are struggling to cope with the ear-splitting sound and smoke coming continuously from pumps extracting sewage from the sinkhole in front of the gallery.
The pumps have been running daily since early in September.
"I've had chest issues (due to the smoke) for a month," a staff member said. "We have migraines, all of us. The smell is also bad."
One of the pumps was positioned near the front door of the gallery this week.
"It's frustrating for visitors - we should be having more visitors at this time of the year," the staff member added.
A sewer main line pipe in the sinkhole, at the traffic island at the intersection of Long, Gordon and Union streets, broke a long time ago.
The pumps are diverting the sewage from the broken pipe, via a portable one, to a nearby sewerage manhole.
Motorists use alternate routes
To facilitate the operation, sections of Long and Union street have been cordoned off, forcing motorists to use alternate routes to get to Thesen Island and reducing the amount of parking in the vicinity, affecting businesses there.
Peter Bester, the DA councillor for ward 11, said he understood that the municipality was paying for the running of the pumps, which cost about R46 000 a day, ahead of a stalled intervention by a contractor.
'Costs municipality R2.5m'
At that cost, the bill for running the pumps, to date, amounts to nearly R2.5 million.
Bester said there was "suspicion the contract was irregularly awarded" to the contractor
appointed by the municipality to replace part of the sewer main line pipe.
Trent Read, the owner of Knysna Fine Art.
The contractor had failed to show up, and eventually arrived at the site on 16 October, in "a bakkie with no equipment, and said he'd start working that Friday (25 October)".
He had heard another contractor had been appointed, and he would attempt to discuss the contract at a council meeting on Thursday 31 October.
On 20 September the municipality said a contractor had been appointed and would begin work in a week.
'Thunder and roar'
The owner of Knysna Fine Art, Trent Read, said "an electric pump would make my life and my staff's lives a lot easier".
In an open letter to the municipality, Read said: "For the last few months, we have had to endure the thunder and roar of the diesel pumps outside our front door.
"We were assured that a contractor would be starting on the site at the beginning of the month (October) but, of course, nothing has happened.
'Too lucrative to give up'
"I suspect that the status quo of pumps and diesel which must cost a great deal of (our) money is too lucrative to give up."
The municipality was asked to comment on the awarding of the contract, on the municipality apparently paying around R46 000 a day for the pump operation, and was asked whether another contractor had been appointed.
Contract terminated
Acting municipal manager Phaahle Simon Malepeng responded. "The municipality acknowledges the concerns raised by businesses and residents regarding the delays in addressing the sinkhole ... and the impact of this ongoing work on the surrounding area," he said.
"Unfortunately, the appointed contractor for this project failed to comply with the scope of the work as required, leading to a delay."
The contract "has now been terminated".
"The municipality's bid adjudicating committee (BAC) will consider alternative bids to expedite the project," he said.
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