ROAD repairs are once again under way across the Kouga region.
Kouga Infrastructure and Engineering Portfolio Councillor, Bryan Dhludhlu, said the municipality had to stop road repairs when lockdown started on March 27.
“Road repairs were not classified as essential under level five of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown,” he explained.
“Level four allows for road repairs to be done. The municipal pothole teams and the contractor doing the resurfacing of roads have, therefore, returned to work.”
He said the resurfacing of roads was under way in Jeffreys Bay, with Humansdorp and St Francis Bay also scheduled to benefit from the programme in the current financial year.
He cautioned that road repairs may, however, have to be downscaled as the lockdown was also having a detrimental effect on the municipality’s income.
“We are currently busy finalising the municipal budget for the new financial year, starting in July.
“Early indications are that we might have to cut back on the funding for road repairs due to the loss of income during lockdown.
“No final decisions have, however, yet been made in this regard.”
He said the repair of potholes was also under way.
“More than 250 potholes were repaired last week.
“We have, however, not been able to employ extra staff for this purpose as before, due to budget constraints brought about by the lockdown.”
He thanked Kouga’s road repair teams for resuming their duties without delay.
“We value the commitment of our staff to keeping Kouga serviced.”
