Despair over poor state of fun park

With about six weeks to go before the 2018 festive season kicks off, Buffalo City Metro (BCM) residents have raised concerns about the appalling state of Waterworld Fun Park.

Following a busy 2017 festive season, the fun park was closed by the metro and workers moved to the Orient Beach swimming pools, said ward 46 councillor Nceba Kilimani.

Concerned DA councillor, Sue Bentley, told the Weekend Dispatch on Thursday that for the past 10 years, BCM had been fixing the fun park, using it for three months (summer season) before abandoning the facility.

“They repeat the cycle each year. Millions of rands have been thrown away because of lack of security. “The boundary wall is about 400m wide, and of that, 160m has collapsed, apparently some of it caused by vandalism, but most was as a result of huge winds in March this year,” she said.

When the Dispatch team visited the park on Thursday, the wall was still not fixed, the park abandoned and no BCM workers or security guards were on site.

Toilets had been stripped of taps, pipes and doors, while an office on the premises was vandalised and stripped of electric wiring.

“The pathways to the slides are covered in weeds. Some pools are chip tiled, but the tiles still need to be cleaned. The grouting on them has gone hard and the place is a sorry sight,” said Bentley.

“We were there just in December and it was so much fun for the kids,” concerned resident, Siyakholwa Macanda, said.

“The place was packed.

“They even have braai facilities and the children loved the place. Now we are worried to hear that it is in such a bad state,” Macanda said.

Kilimani said BCM employees left the park about two months ago.

BCM’s municipal services portfolio head, councillor Helen Neale-May, said BCM was in the final stages of awarding a tender for the wall to be fixed.

“There was a storm and soon after there was vandalism. We could not fix other problems before fixing the wall first. The tender is in the evaluation phase and work will start soon. The park will be open by December 1,” Neale-May said.

Earlier this month, the Dispatch reported that BCM had set aside R15m to kick-start the upgrade and extension of Waterworld this financial year.

The development will cost an estimated R80m and will be implemented in phases, with the metro’s development agency (BCMDA) spearheading the project.

However Bentley said it would be wise that before any of the proposed plans are implemented, “BCM has to make security a top priority, otherwise money spent will again go to waste”.

“Almost every year we pump R1m or so into the facility just before the Christmas season, and then a year later it needs to be done again. In 2009 R2.5m was pumped in and a few months later there was no indication that it ever happened,” said Bentley.

BCM spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said the city was working tirelessly on Waterworld to meet the festive season demand.

“We can assure our people and visitors that the venue will be ready for the festive season,” he said. Ngwenya said damages to the facility “were unfortunately caused by acts of vandalism which is very counterproductive when it comes to development.”