The reply I received from the MEC for Roads and Public Works regarding the Seaview Road is unsatisfactory. The matter of this road, which is partly under water, is a combined problem for the Department of Roads and Public Works and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM). Both institutions need to stop dilly-dalllying and passing the buck. They need to come up with an urgent solution to make this road useable again.
In the reply to my question the MEC for Roads and Public Works, Thandiswa Marawu, acknowledged that the “challenge” of the Seaview Roads falls upon the department and the municipality. However, her excuse that the draining of a natural lake that forms on the road after excessive rain would be a “costly exercise” is simply not a satisfactory answer. Nor is her attitude that “the local residents will unfortunately have to bear with us”.
Service delivery and the maintenance and repair of infrastructure is the core business of the department and the municipality. They need to get on with the job.
I will endeavour to facilitate a meeting between the department and the metro to find short- and long term solutions in order for the Seaview Road to become viable once more, as a matter of urgency. There are various engineering solutions for this drainage problem, which simply need to be explored.
This road is part of the life blood of the city’s economy. We cannot allow that jobs are jeopardised due to the lack of accessibility to businesses in the area.
Pine Pienaar, MPL
