THE Sundays River Valley Municipality’s infrastructure is close to collapse due to years of mismanagement and virtually no investment. The sewerage pump outside Valencia, Addo is not functioning.
The new pump for this station was requested back in 2010 and I was informed that the new pump has been installed but now the rising main pipe has burst. The human waste of approximately 1200 homes is being collected at this station and then it overflows into the surrounding field.
This sea of untreated sewage is more than 4km long and the stench is quite unbearable on most days. This causes a serious health and environmental challenge.
The municipality has requested some funds from the "rapid response unit” to overhaul the ageing infrastructure completely and also to clean the sewerage spill.
What makes this issue a personal one for many residents of this community is that a graveyard is located within 200m from the broken pump, and one can only imagine the sadness when a loved one is laid to rest close to this broken and stinking pump station.
If the DA was the governing party, infrastructure investments would receive a priority. We would be proactive rather than just reactive to the issues affecting our communities.
Karen Smith, DA councillor, Sundays River Valley
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