♫The Langebaan road is long, with many a winding turns . . . that leads us to who knows where, who knows where . . . ♫
With apologies to The Hollies, the ongoing dispute over the prolonged road construction work in Langebaan’s Oostewal Road involuntarily reminds one of the intro lyrics to the song “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother” made popular by The Hollies and Neil Diamond in 1969/1970.
Thursday night’s follow-up meeting between frustrated and bankrupt business owners and representatives of the Saldanha Bay Municipality and the respective companies brought no joy and few answers to business owners of Ward 6 who are still completely cut off from the main traffic.
The entrance to The Curry Den and surrounding businesses was already blocked off on Wednesday afternoon due to kerbs being laid across the entrance, so that shop owners had to summon help to get their vehicles out of the enclosed parking area.
Yesterday, a temporary parking area across the street and a makeshift pedestrian crossing was hastily built by the contractors to give shop owners and clients some form of access to the shops. This temporary aid – done cost free by the contractors – does, however, not help much as shop owners now have to carry their supplies/stock from their vehicles across Oostewal Road while construction work is going on all around them. As can be expected, few clients will be willing to get dust-blasted and their shoes filled with sand to get to the shops. Yesterday, all the shops in the complex appeared pitifully abandoned with not a customer in sight. Judith Breytenbach, who spear-headed the initial crisis-meeting with SBM officials, did not even bother to open her shop Gypsy Mojo and Silhouette Slimming, as there were no customers.
Frustrated proprietors on Thursday night listened as representatives of Consulting Engineers Nadeson and the contractors RJ Mullins Civils explained the design of the new road and the difficulties they had in staying within their budget and time frame. SBM’s director of Technical Services, Gerrit Smith, and the newly appointed project manager, Etienne Swanepoel, agreed to consider shop owners’ suggestions to provide additional entrances to the various shopping complexes. It was explained that the traffic circles and median will have a traffic-calming effect and prevent head-on collisions, while traffic lights can still be installed later if necessary. The cycling and pedestrian lanes will provide an aesthetic touch and the width of the road is within normal standards and more than adequate to allow for emergency vehicles to pass.
Councillors André Kruger and Dries Venter acted as facilitator and minutes taker respectively, while Mayor Marius Koen, acting municipal manager Jacques Marais, councillor Jaco Kotze and municipal official Jeremy Jarvis kept a low profile.
Restless shop owners demanded assurance that the main road will be completed and open to traffic by 6 December. Mr Michael Mullins and design engineer Goolam Rooknodien agreed to the deadline provided “something unforeseen and out of our control or responsibility” did not cause a delay.
A request by shop owners to be compensated for their loss of income from the penalty money the SBM will get, should the contractors exceed the deadline, was discussed and will be considered.
Tempers flared occasionally as group members accused the SBM for not caring a hoot about tax paying proprietors who voted them into their lucrative positions while they forsake their duties, and for playing politics by appointing a “politically correct” contractor who is not equipped for the job. “You pay peanuts, you buy monkeys,” was said, with apologies to the contractors to not take the idiom literally.
It was suggested that the contract was awarded to RJ Mullins Civils on political grounds rather than merit, and that the latter was not the best applicant. Dr Louis Scheepers, Municipal Manager at the time, is still on mandatory leave of absence pending proof of his outstanding qualification, and thus not available for comment. A copy of the tender process and contract stipulations was supposed to be made available to the proprietors at the meeting, but it never happened.
“A bigger, more experienced company would have used more and bigger machines to finish the project much sooner. RJ Mullins Civils probably has capital restraints to stay within their budget and thus can’t afford more and bigger machines”, it was said.
Councillors were attacked for their condescending attitude and patronizing tone as shop owners stressed their dire financial position and inability to meet their financial obligations. “Why can’t the SBM cut us some slack and grant us some form of temporary relief – even if it is a discount on municipal bills? If we don’t pay our bills on time, our services are immediately suspended, but now that we are in distress due to roadworks that kill our businesses, nothing is done to help us?” one said.
A voice of reason (and welcome humour) came from Philip Botha, an experienced engineer and former Town Clerk of Keetmanshoop in Namibia and local director of Master Builders Association who joined the meeting out of interest and empathy with the shop owners. Botha suggested they stick to the crisis at hand and build temporary service lanes immediately to at least provide access to the beleaguered shops so that the owners can start earning an income as soon as possible. Botha reckons the road design and width of the road are good and will look beautiful once completed, but it won’t be able to accommodate the growing traffic demand expected within the next five years. “You can’t change the road now – it is too late for that – but in five years’ time adaptions will have to be made to cater for the increased traffic following all the future developments and industrial growth.”
The rather lengthy meeting dispersed on a fragile note with shop owners feeling disappointed and let down. “Nothing has really happened. Lots of talk and buck passing and promises . . . we will just have to see whether these promises are kept and if the new project manager (that we paid for!) can pull some strings to get things done,” a disgruntled proprietor said.
A disheartened Judith Breytenbach, who took it upon herself to fight for the struggling businesses, said the fight is not over yet . . . not in a long time. Judith and husband Rocky feel the Saldanha Bay Municipality has thrown their voters to the wolves. Also read her passionate “from the heart” letter in weskusonTheline.
