A letter from Ward 89 Councillor Ingrid Reinten to her residents.
This past year has been a busy and frustrating year for me. We have had a number of issues which the City has passed our way. Some of these are the discussions on the City’s ombudsman, the new rates that came into effect in July, the evaluation process on which these rates are calculated , the community engagement process for the IDP and the proposed new by-law on problem properties. The pensioners rebates also seem not be working as smoothly as possible.
The daily issues of electricity outages, water leaks, the roads surfaces and the sewerage leaks indicated the need for regular surveillance and maintenance. A process of reporting by our ward inspector has helped bring more of the issues to the fore but I am still concerned about the lack of information sharing between the city and the unities that need to carry out the service delivery. The mayoral JMPD 10 Plus Project is not functioning adequately as it should be for it to be able to reach its desired strategic goals.
The City has improved the billing resolution structures and I encourage all residents with problems to log these at the regional walk-in centre at 100 Christiaan de Wet Street. In general, most are being resolved but we still have some outstanding issues which residents have been trying to get sorted for years that need to be dealt with.
The ward committee is up and running and a great help to me as the councillor. We’ve discussed the issues that come up in the ward and find creative solutions. However, little of this goes through to the City as again the information streams between the councillor and the City are constrained. Every resident is welcome to attend the ward committee meetings for Ward 89. Have a look on my website – www. Ward89.co.za for the dates in the new year.
I would like to encourage residents to get involved in their local residents association, community police forums and be the eyes and ears of our community. We have one future together, let’s build.
Kind Regards
Ingrid Reinten
Councillor Ward 89
