Four parks costing the municipality R10 million haven't even been finished but already plants and equipment have been stolen from the sites.
Four parks costing the municipality R10 million haven't even been finished but already plants and equipment have been stolen from the sites.
On top of this the contractor is asking for a R4.2m top-up to finish the project. Concerns were raised about the security of the unfinished parks in the township during a Makana municipality social development portfolio committee meeting last week.
Some parks have been vandalised and children have already started playing in others. Three of the parks were built in the township and the fourth was built at the spring (Emthonjeni Spring) along the R67 road in the direction of Port Alfred.
In Extension 4 the old cemetery was transformed into a park (Sani Memorial Park), in Phumlani an old dumping site was chosen to house a new park (Phumlani park) and in Extension 6 the last one was being constructed near the Zion dam. During a presentation about the status of the project it was revealed that material like swings and other metal items installed at the parks had already been stolen.
The company had initially applied for R18m to complete the project but they ended up only receiving R10m from the municipality. A number of municipal officials at the meeting said they were concerned that the company had made no provisions to secure the parks during and after construction. The municipality had requested a comprehensive presentation from the company following concerns about the status of the project.
Makana sports and recreation officer Jeff Budaza said the presentation did not have any clear indication of security measures put in place to ensure that the parks were safe. Parks and recreation manager Kevin Bates echoed Budaza's words, saying there needed to be security at the parks seven days a week.
Municipal spokesman Mncedisi Boma told Grocott's Mail yesterday that the municipality didn't have a copy of the presentation but were in the process of acquiring it at the time of going to press. Numerous attempts to get a copy of the report throughout the course of the week were unsuccessful.
