Frustration builds over road rehab delays

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03-05-2023
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South Coast Herald
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The roads have been delayed at least by two months.

The community of Port Shepstone is still unhappy about the unfinished roads rehabilitation projects – Nelson Mandela Drive and Main Harding road in Marburg.

Nelson Mandela Drive was expected to be completed at the end of November 2022, but it is still unclear if it is a one way street because drivers are now using it as a two way street.

There are no visible markings on the road and the first section of it, near the Sasol garage is still dug up.
Main Harding Road was expected to be completed in January but it seems that it is nowhere close to completion.

The CEO of Port Shepstone Business Forum, Vijay Naidoo, said they are fully behind the development in the CBD. “It is disruptive for business people and the community but I must say the contractor doing Nelson Mandela Drive has done well even though there were delays.”

He said the reason for the delay was because of the Ugu pipes which had to be lowered.

“We believe that there could have been a better way to co-ordinate the work on Main Harding road because that road has had issues, and the contractor has not performed well.”

Spokesperson for Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Simon April, said rehabilitation of Nelson Mandela Drive besides delays due to inclement weather, the project is progressing well and it is anticipated that it will be completed by mid-May. He said the plan is that the road will be a one-way street, however, this can only be implemented once the project is complete.

“Besides the delays due to inclement weather on Main Harding road, the project experienced other delays due to non-payment of employees by the contractor. The project also developed serious defects, and the contractor has since been given notice to remedy those defects and fast track implementation.”

April said supervision of the project has been intensified to ensure that the contractor complies with the terms of the contract and the notice served.

Another project that seems to be progressing slowly is the Port Shepstone Intermodal Facility.
Naidoo believes that this project should have waited till the road projects were completed because it also adds to the chaos in the CBD.

“We did raise that issue but obviously it wasn’t taken up, which is one reason why the CBD is so chaotic.”
April said the Port Shepstone Intermodal Facility is a private development project on municipal land.

“As of now, we can indicate that the contractor has been busy with site clearance and bulk earthworks of which more than 30 000 tons have been removed from site.”

He said the current situation is that the site has been excavated to almost 15m below its original finished levels and that the specialist subcontractor is currently undertaking piling (further 18m) below the current levels.

April said that it is anticipated that by end of May, the actual construction will have started, and the project is expected to be open for trading on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.