MAKANA MUNICIPALITY COMMUNICATIONS UNIT
The Municipality is pleased to announce that efforts by the Executive Mayor, Councillor Nomhle Gaga with the support of the Engineering and Infrastructural Services Department to have Beaufort Street revamped have finally produced results.
The Executive Mayor had written to SANRAL in August 2016 requesting assistance to fix the 9km-long road. (Full letter to be published on the Makana website).
The project started on Thursday 5 April and it will include fixing other pothole-riddled streets. Local Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have also been included in the project. Ancillary works such as sidewalk paving, kerbing, guardrails, gabion works will also be carried out. This work is to be done by SMMEs. A selection process for SMMEs has been completed and training will commence this month (April).
Beaufort Street is an important part of the town and the municipality realises this. Although some roads including Beaufort Street are the responsibility of the Department of Roads and Public Works (DRPW) the municipality has in the past done what it could to maintain these roads.
However, due to the financial challenges faced by the municipality every cent has been diverted to the bare essentials like water, sewage, electricity provision, etc. The road network as a result has completely deteriorated such that we have potholes everywhere. While the internal streets are also of grave concern to the Municipality, the main road is of major concern and of critical importance to both the inhabitants of the municipality, visitors and through passing traffic.
The main road, which is about 9km long, was transferred to the DRPW after the construction of the Bypass around Grahamstown. However, since the transfer of the road the DRPW has not undertaken any sustainable action on the road except fixing potholes which does not last for a long period of time.
Makana Municipality would like to appeal to residents and motorists to be patient while the project is being carried out. We will keep residents up to speed with any further developments while work continues on our roads.
