A week ahead of the National Arts Festival, bulk water services provider Amatola Water has left Grahamstown.
A week ahead of the National Arts Festival, bulk water services provider Amatola Water has left Grahamstown.
In a telephone interview last night, area operations manager Chris Nair told Grocott's Mail that the team which has been fixing the town's water supply since December 2013 was asked by the company to pull out on Friday morning 27 June.
Nair said while long-term infrastructure projects would not be affected, Amatola would no longer manage the plants and the bulk water supply to the city.
Nair said that because of the sensitive nature of the situation he was not prepared to comment on the reasons for the move.
Amatola Water would not be available to react to water related queries until further notice, Nair said.
He said residents should contact the Makana Fire Department regarding water supply problems.
The National Arts Festival, which runs for 11 days starting on Thursday 3 July is a significant driver of the economy of the City of Grahamstown and the Eastern Cape Province, according to a recent economic impact study.
It contributes an estimated R349.9m to its economy, according to a study undertaken by a team from the Rhodes University Economics Department, led by Professors Jen Snowball and Geoff Antrobus.
Last year festival attendance was 211 701, according to CEO Tony Lankester, quoted on the organisation's website.
Visitors stayed an average of around five days and nights, the study says.
The biggest categories of spending were accommodation, food and show tickets, followed by shopping and “other” spending, mostly transport.
