RATEPAYERS ARE BEING SHORT-CHANGED

Sir,

Please allow me to present my thoughts on the upgrading of Sheffield Road, Mbabane and please understand I know what I am talking about.

The unknowledgeable public is being taken for a ride once again. The project completion date was meant to be in October 2013 and we are now in March 2014, with an incomplete project. Costs have now escalated by almost 40 per cent for a project expected to be completed over six months.

The usual excuse of rain, rain, and rain, which only began in earnest two weeks ago, long after the project completion date. This leaves one with more questions than answers.
 For record purposes, the same engineers and the same contractor recently completed a project within the same vicinity and from their recent experiences; all aspects of work should have been foreseen. In addition to this, assuming that the engineers have been around for over two decades earning handsome professional fees, any errors or unforeseen circumstances should be minimal. The contractor likewise has been around for a long time.

To the best of my knowledge the road had been in existence for decades with heavy loads of traffic on a daily basis and decades later with all that compaction we are told that the road had to be excavated to allow for a pioneer layer of rock. As far as the works are concerned, the layer works were completed in or around September 2013. This includes the stabilisation with cement and lime and the compaction thereof. These were left unattended for almost six months and potholes have now developed.

These potholes are now being filled up and BTB is being used to remedy the mess. The stabilisation process is a chemical reaction that has now deteriorated with all the rains, sun, petroleum products and other unknown substances.
To the best of my knowledge, this is incorrect and the correct remedy is to rip off the base and re-stabilise and re-compact the layers.
The costs, thereof, should be transferred to the parties responsible and not the ratepayers nor the heavily taxed. Can someone in authority please take action. The general public and the ratepayers are being short-changed.

Tom Jones 

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