KNYSNA NEWS - Residents of Kamdebo Avenue, Old Place, Knysna, are hot under the collar over unfinished road repair work in their vicinity - that should have been completed by municipal workers five months ago.
Repairs were partially done, and the site left abandoned, after a water pipe burst, creating a large trench. To make matters worse, the trench, about 5 metres in length, is in front of the parking area at the Knysna Baptist Church.
The Knysna municipality has placed a direction sign on a pile of gravel and earth at one end of the trench, and an orange cone there, to warn motorists that the road is significantly narrower due to the outstanding repairs.
According to one of the disgruntled residents, it was "outrageous that the workers have just packed up and left their unfinished work without a care in the world".
"Whatever the workers' reasons, how can you leave this type of work half-way done and not even care about those affected by it? I mean, if it was on a public road that's a different matter - but this is in a residential area and it's right in front of a church," she said.
'Grass growing there'
"The lot of us that stays here have to pay taxes and this is the type of services we get? Nope, it doesn't work like that, and if you take a closer look, even grass has begun to grow on the ground they had dug up."
The resident added that this wasn't an isolated case of unfinished road repair work, and said sometimes it took the municipality two to three weeks to tar a small section of the busy road, which she said disrupted traffic flow.
Residents expressed concern that, due to the road being narrowed by the trench, accidents might occur.
Municipality responds
Knysna Municipality's acting director of infrastructure services, Ezzard McKenzie, responded via a press release, saying a recent inspection had identified an ongoing leak from the pipe.
"Plumbers will investigate and address the issue. Once the leak is repaired, we will arrange for the restoration of the road surface subject to weather conditions," the release said.
Congregation hopeful
One of the members of the Knysna Baptist Church said the congregation would be grateful if the problem was addressed before this Sunday's service.
"It's my understanding that a complaint was already lodged at the municipality back in February, but the repairs just never happened.
"On Sundays in particular we are left with a build-up of traffic jams, and on many occasions, motorists had to brake suddenly to prevent accidents, because the road is so narrow and there is a blind spot due to the corner. "But that being said, let's hope the repairs are completed soonest."
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