“Please allow the new contractor the space to do the work they need to .” That’s the plea from ward councillor Edward Walker as the Ndlambe Sewerage Infrastructure Implementation Project gets under way. After several administrative roadblocks and a disastrous false start, three years after it was scheduled to begin, the project is finally marching forward with a new contractor. East Bank residents are experiencing disruption to their routines. Last week, residents of Jack’s Close were escorted by project staff as they negotiated a pedestrian walkway alongside a trench dug for a sewerage pipe. Vehicle access was impossible in the narrow lane while the digging works were active and contractor Amlo Trading hired security to guard residents’ vehicles, which they parked in Ferndale Road overnight .
Residents said the team worked until close to midnight on Thursday to backfill the trench and ensure that residents’ routines weren’t disrupted longer than necessary.
This week, it’s the turn of York Lane residents and again, access is limited to foot traffic only. York Lane residents are also temporarily parking in Ferndale Road, with overnight security paid for by the contractor.
Port Alfred community WhatsApp groups administrator Sally Ann Odendaal said there had been unexpected hold-ups after the contractor found historic, disused steel pipes in the area. “These had to be decommissioned and removed before work could continue on digging the trench for the new sewerage line,” Odendaal said. Up next is High Street. Community activist and PANIC chair Ann Edwards, attended a meeting yesterday with the contract engineers, Lukhozi Engineering. She reported back to residents in the area via WhatsApp: “The contractor will start [in] our area on Monday starting up by Milkwoods, working their way down. “They are going to start delivering sand for the project today (Wednesday) and this will be placed at various points in the area.
“I was advised that once the sand is used, they will ensure that the area is raked over and made neat. “I will do my best to communicate the contractors’ daily plan of action so you know what to expect,” she said. In an earlier post Edwards said: “You might have noticed little white pegs in the ground. They will be digging from one peg to the other and then lay pipes and backfill.
“We drove the route and there will be challenges as some of the streets are narrow. They will dig, lay the pipes and backfill but not necessarily in the same day, so access to driveways, especially in the narrower streets [is] going to be an issue.” Edwards said High Street, Bathurst Street, Strand Street, William Cock, Port Frances, Hockley, Putt Road and
Brighton and Beach Cresent would be affected.
Consultant on the project with Lukhozi Engineering resident engineer on the project, said the High Street work, which was ‘work package one’, comprised 3.5km of pipe and would
take around six weeks to complete. He also confirmed that the contract of the previous contractor had been terminated and that the work was being done by Amlo Trading. According to the original bid document, the project, which has taken close to a decade to properly get under way, has five phases.
The work currently being done on the East Bank of Port Alfred, is phase one, comprising work packages one, three, four and six. Work packages two and five are located on the West Bank. Work package five, west of the Royal Port Alfred golf course, would begin before the end of the year. The balance of work package two, south-west of that section, would begin in January 2025.
Walker, who has been visiting the sites, told Talk of the Town that he was satisfied that the contractor had been communicating their plans adequately and had done what was necessary in terms of contingency plans for the convenience and safety of residents. “I ask for residents’ understanding while this work is being done. After all we are finally seeing this important project under way. “It’s important for the public to know that this is a new contractor, and they need to be given space to work .”
For more information, residents can call Walker on 071-428-4874, Odendaal on 073-244-7058 or community liaison officer Phikolomzi ‘PK’ Mdokwana on 073-534-3657.
The project has two main goals: to improve the handling of effluent in Port Alfred, and to ensure a supply of waste water for the town’s currently dormant effluent recycling plant.
Here is the background, as per the bid document:
Approximately 67 % of the population of Port Alfred makes use of a combination of conservancy tanks, septic tanks with soakaways or ventilated improved pit latrines for their effluent handling. These systems are not functioning optimally and regularly spill into the natural surroundings, leading to groundwater infiltration and pollution of nearby water courses.
In addition to the environmental risks associated with sewer spills, the municipality is placed under financial strain when dealing with the operations and maintenance of these systems.
Therefore, Ndlambe Municipality intends to improve the level of sewer services by providing the residents of Port Alfred with full waterborne sanitation services where feasible. This will be achieved by extending the current network to include areas that can easily be connected to the existing sanitation infrastructure. Existing bulk sewers and pump stations will be utilised where possible to mitigate high expenditure. The existing wastewater treatment works (WWTW) has recently been upgraded to 5.0 Ml/day which will cater for the proposed additions to the network .
Port Alfred is the grip of a severe drought and is experiencing major water shortages, so in addition to providing an improved waterborne sanitation system, Ndlambe Municipality also intends to augment the volumes of raw water that supplies their water treatment works with the recycled treated effluent which would normally be spoiled as a by-product of the WWTW treatment process. The implementation of this plan will be phased in over time subject to available funding. The expected potential flow into the sewer system from the phase one areas equates to approximately 227 kl/day. This value will be dependent on the number of residents that will connect to the system once installed.
Source:
https://bit.ly/TOTTNdlambeQuickWIns
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 15, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
