Local residents are seeking answers following the drainage of the Haak en Steek dam in Weltevreden Park during the weekend.
According to onlookers, the dam water levels were normal on Friday, 27 April, but the next morning, they woke up to an almost empty dam.
“What has occurred is most disturbing. The residents of Weltevreden Park and surrounding areas are extremely distressed about the matter. I believe that at least 90 per cent of the dam water has drained away,” complained Dave Baxter, the chairman of the Panorama Residents’ Association.
And adding insult to injury, a number of people simply helped themselves to the fish that were dying because of the disappearance of the water.
Outraged members of a number of Residents’ Associations, such as Panorama and Devon Valley, came out to see the dam as they continued looking for the answer to the mysterious disappearance of the water.
Baxter raised concerns about the environmental impact of the drainage. The flora, amphibians, reptiles, bird-life, small mammals and the ecosystem that existed in and around the dam, and depended on it, are going to suffer.In an email, Baxter blamed the Rand Water F46 pipeline project. He said, “We hold Rand Water and the appointed contractors, Maziya Construction, wholly and fully responsible for the disaster that has occurred and expect them to return the dam to its original condition, including restocking it with indigenous fish.”The project’s community liaison officer, Jan von der Heyde, dismissed the claims, saying that the project had no connection to the dam whatsoever, even though they worked near it. “There’s no connection whatsoever … it’s just an assumption,” he said. He added that the facts will be determined by an investigation into the matter. He also pointed out that the contractors have their own water tankers that are filled at the reservoir, and do not pump water from the dam.
Ward 126 councillor, David Brand, was also clueless as to where the water had disappeared to. He told Northsider about his intervention. “I have spoken to the Rand Water Board engineer in charge of the pipeline installation project. He cannot establish the cause of the drainage of the dam adjacent to 9th Avenue without an inspection.
“He will request the Rand Water environmental officer to carry out an onsite inspection and will advise thereafter. I will give you feedback as soon as I receive any news,” he said in closing.
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