By Lloyd Govindsamy
Commuters on the North Coast are breathing a sigh of relief after the M4 Boys Town highway opened to traffic after months of closure following the heavy rains and flooding that caused the road to wash away earlier this year.
The road was officially opened on Friday, 26 August, by the MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Sipho Hlomuka after the completion. The rehabilitation of the stretch was a joint effort by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport (DoT), eThekwini Metro, South African Defence Force (SANDF) and SANRAL.
The re-opening of this road allows for the easy travelling between Tongaat, La Mercy, uMhlanga, and the Durban Central District. The road provides a strategic link to the King Shaka Airport and the Dube Trade Port.
During the floods in April and May the road suffered a major wash away forcing the total closure on both bounds. Communities had to use long, often delaying alternative routes to link up to frequently accessed areas.
The repair cost R3 million, which was mainly for the purchasing of material. The one major remaining closure on the M4 is the Tongaat River bridge, near Ballito, which is being attended to by Sanral.
Hlomuka, who was accompanied by the Speaker of eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Thabani Nyawose, SANRAL representatives, SANDF commanders, applauded the speed at which the repairs were done. “This demonstrates that the government is indeed at work. During the floods we came here, and the damage was quite huge.
“We did not anticipate it to be done within such a short space of time. We commend the good work by all parties involved and we want to see a similar pace as well in other projects,” said Hlomuka.
He assured the public that the department working with SANRAL was attending to all outstanding projects that were affected by the floods. Within the next few weeks he will hand over to contractors to start work on various projects, including repair of blacktop, betterment and re-graveling and fixing bridges.
La Mercy resident Paul Ramlal, who commutes daily, said the reopening of the bridge brought some ease to their lives. “Three people in my family use that road daily so we used to spend a lot on fuel by using alternate routes. That can be said for the many residents across the North Coast.”
Commenting on the workmanship Ramlal said the repair of the tar and bumps are still not properly completed. “We also believe the cost for this project isn’t justified. I was one of the members elected to be on the (community) task team and I was given an estimated cost of R1.2 million. The community therefore feel this project could be done far cheaper,” said Ramlal.
Vice Chairperson of the La Mercy Ratepayers and Civic Association (LMRCA), Tashya Giyapersad, said: “While the LMRCA is pleased with the opening of the M4 at Boys Town, it is not happy with the lack of intervention on the Umhlali bridge which remains untouched. It is clear that the DoT will continue to drag its feet and will only move when there’s pressure by the community. The ambition in doing their job is sadly lacking. The community and its businesses are suffering and will continue to suffer the inconvenience of the DoT in not doing its job timelessly, or at all,” said Giyapersad.
