The shocking state of rural roads on the Sunshine Coast is costing motorists thousands in vehicle damages.
Farmers, schools and informal traders who buy produce from farms around Bathurst yesterday demanded provincial public works and the Ndlambe municipality urgently resurface and repair hundreds of kilometres of roads before someone gets killed.
They told the Daily Dispatch they were spending thousands replacing tyres and shock absorbers and that some transport companies were now reluctant to go to farms to get produce.
Provincial roads and public works spokesman Mpumzi Zuzile yesterday denied roads in the area were not being maintained.
He said a R20-million contract had been awarded last May to maintain rural roads in Ndlambe and Makana.
“A lot of work is being done in the area, however we will not be able to do all the roads in the same time.”
Zuzile said the province was sitting on a R102-billion backlog when it came to roads that was inherited from the previous government.
He said R3.5-billion had been budgeted for roads during the current financial year and 74% had already been spent.
Last week, Eastern Border Farmers Association chair Coert Herbst, who farms around Shaw Park, handed over a petition with 630 signatures to DA MPL Vicky Knoetze claiming the shocking state of roads was costing the farmers big time.
Produce to markets and factories had to be rerouted longer distances along the best dirt roads they could find to prevent vehicle damage but this was escalating costs.
He said he had had nine flat tyres in the past three weeks and that pineapple and cattle trucks got stuck or even overturned when it rained.
He said most roads in the area had last been properly resurfaced with gravel more than 10 years ago and that grading was not a solution.
According to Knoetze the problem with the roads system was province wide.
She said roads were in a shocking state and slated maintenance backlogs.
Knoetze said road maintenance underfunding and awarding contracts late were a major problem.
Shaw Park Primary School principal Liezel Willows said they regularly changed minibus routes to make it safer for the 78 children who travel to school daily.
She said they had four transport vehicles that travel up to 20km a day on dirt and they had to change tyres and shock absorbers every three months because they were getting “hammered”.
“Sometimes when it rains we have to close the school for up to three days because the roads are so bad it becomes dangerous to transport children.”
Vathiwe September, principal of the nearby Shaw Park Combined School, said some of the 212 pupils had to travel 30km to get from farms to class and that some could not come when the roads were wet.
Peddie pineapple hawker John Wonte said his bakkie had been badly damaged making twice weekly trips to a Shaw Park farm over the past four years.
“Not enough is being done, even the dirt roads around Peddie are bad,” he said.
Farmers, schools slam shocking state of Sunshine Coast roads
Farmers, schools and informal traders who buy produce from farms around Bathurst yesterday demanded provincial public works and the Ndlambe municipality urgently resurface and repair hundreds of kilometres of roads before someone gets killed.
They told the Daily Dispatch they were spending thousands replacing tyres and shock absorbers and that some transport companies were now reluctant to go to farms to get produce.
Provincial roads and public works spokesman Mpumzi Zuzile yesterday denied roads in the area were not being maintained.
He said a R20-million contract had been awarded last May to maintain rural roads in Ndlambe and Makana.
“A lot of work is being done in the area, however we will not be able to do all the roads in the same time.”
Zuzile said the province was sitting on a R102-billion backlog when it came to roads that was inherited from the previous government.
He said R3.5-billion had been budgeted for roads during the current financial year and 74% had already been spent.
Last week, Eastern Border Farmers Association chair Coert Herbst, who farms around Shaw Park, handed over a petition with 630 signatures to DA MPL Vicky Knoetze claiming the shocking state of roads was costing the farmers big time.
Produce to markets and factories had to be rerouted longer distances along the best dirt roads they could find to prevent vehicle damage but this was escalating costs.
He said he had had nine flat tyres in the past three weeks and that pineapple and cattle trucks got stuck or even overturned when it rained.
He said most roads in the area had last been properly resurfaced with gravel more than 10 years ago and that grading was not a solution.
According to Knoetze the problem with the roads system was province wide.
She said roads were in a shocking state and slated maintenance backlogs.
Knoetze said road maintenance underfunding and awarding contracts late were a major problem.
Shaw Park Primary School principal Liezel Willows said they regularly changed minibus routes to make it safer for the 78 children who travel to school daily.
She said they had four transport vehicles that travel up to 20km a day on dirt and they had to change tyres and shock absorbers every three months because they were getting “hammered”.
“Sometimes when it rains we have to close the school for up to three days because the roads are so bad it becomes dangerous to transport children.”
Vathiwe September, principal of the nearby Shaw Park Combined School, said some of the 212 pupils had to travel 30km to get from farms to class and that some could not come when the roads were wet.
Peddie pineapple hawker John Wonte said his bakkie had been badly damaged making twice weekly trips to a Shaw Park farm over the past four years.
“Not enough is being done, even the dirt roads around Peddie are bad,” he said.
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