While many residents claim that Ward Cllr Patel has lately become arrogant as a Councillor and is failing in his duties to serve the community of Ward 61 diligently and with fairness, Patel still continues to beat his chest, with pride, without conceding to his failures as Councillor.
Ironically Patel is quick to pose in front of the camera, with his sidekick, CPF chair Shaheen Wahab (who many residents regard as a ‘dud’ chair), when officials eventually attend to residents’ complaints in the area, days or even months later, as if the pair had fixed the problem themselves.
This follows the Laudium Sun receiving ongoing complaints about failing Municipal services in the area. In one of the latest complaints received, another sewage leak from a manhole leaking for days…this time in front of a Salmon Street home, has infuriated the home owner.
spilling raw sewage and creating unbearable conditions for nearby residents.
Homeowner, Mohseen Omar, told the Laudium Sun this week, “The manhole drain in front of my house started leaking from last Friday. I called the Council a few times and on Saturday (April 19) I even received a reference number. However it is now several days later and the problem remains unresolved. The Council has yet to attend to the matter, and no action has been taken to fix the leakage. It’s been several days since residents of Salmon Street have been reporting the issue, but the drain continues to overflow, causing serious discomfort and health risks. This is really frustrating and shows the Council’s lack of concern and ‘don’t care attitude.’ I’m truly sick and tired of the Council’s lack of interest in serving this community. Many residents have reported the issue, yet it remains ignored. It’s disgusting—dirty toilet water, toilet paper, and faeces are spilling out. The area is filthy and the smell is unbearable. We cannot live like this. We pay rates and taxes, but we are forced to endure these conditions. All these politicians make big promises, but deliver very little. I’m tired of this poor service we are receiving from the Council. I sincerely hope the Council comes to fix the manhole soon. It is a serious health hazard as the horrible faeces is just laying on the streets—we can’t even walk to the shops without being affected. Even when people drive over this filth and then drive into their yards, they are taking the filth into their homes. The worst part is the smell. I urge Councillor Patel, who is aware of the problem, to address this issue immediately.”
Another concerned resident and food stall owner, Obama Wajebo of Salmon Street, told the Laudium Sun, “The manhole started leaking since last week and it is about a week now and still no one has addressed it. I’m a vendor, and I’ve lost so many customers because of the stench. This has cost me a lot of money.”
Salmon Str resident, Sazid Ksilji, complained to the Laudium Sun, “It’s terrible. We’re losing many customers because of the manhole. People are avoiding the street due to the foul smell. There’s toilet water and faeces everywhere—it’s truly horrifying. The Councillor needs to come and see this first hand, to understand how it’s affecting both our businesses and our health.”
*The Laudium Sun went to the scene of the blocked manhole drain again on Thursday afternoon (yesterday) and found it to be still blocked with the stench even stronger than before.
**The Laudium Sun tried to contact Councillor Patel on his cell phone at 084 504 8042, but there was no response.