LETTER: Who pays for all the damage left by fibre installers?

Can we ratepayers ask if the City gets Telkom or its outsourced fibre company to refund the City for all this re-tarring? asks Keith Gottschalk. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News AGency(ANA)

Can we ratepayers ask if the City gets Telkom or its outsourced fibre company to refund the City for all this re-tarring? asks Keith Gottschalk. Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/African News AGency(ANA)

Published Jul 6, 2021

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Some months ago, workmen arrived at my front door, with a letter saying they were from a fibre company outsourced by Telkom to install fibre cables.

After they finished on my premises, they dug up the pavement, and departed.

Neither they nor Telkom showed any inclination to accept responsibility to re-tar over the pavement they dug up.

After some weeks I logged a complaint on the City’s website, and within a fortnight my pavement was re-tarred.

Then, in walking down my street, I discovered three further sections of pavement they dug up and left.

Once again I had to log a complaints to the City’s website before anyone would re-tar over the pavement.

I now discover that in Queen Victoria Street, Claremont, there are more than 10 sections of the pavement which have been dug up between Cook and Thompson Streets.

This is becoming more holes than I can keep up complaining about and logging onto the City’s website.

Can we ratepayers ask if the City gets Telkom or its outsourced fibre company to refund the City for all this re-tarring?

Or is it paid for by us ratepayers?

Why does no one take responsibility for re-tarring it over before I have to log on another complaint each time?

In a year of municipal elections, one would think that the ward councillor and the City would sort this out without the need for ratepayers to keep on complaining.

* Keith Gottschalk, Claremont.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.

Cape Argus

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