People's Post - Work on flats ‘up to par’

The Ottery Concerned Peoples Forum (OCPF) handed a memorandum over to the City of Cape Town’s office in Ottery highlighting grievances around the upgrade of council-owned flats. Residents complained that the appointed contractors were using inferiors materials and had adopted poor workmanship skills, as reported in last week’s edition of People’s Post, (“Residents unhappy with upgrade”).

According to Sonnenberg, the materials used in the upgrade conform to the respective quality standards applicable.

However, it was observed that toilet seats were being broken because of the various ways people use the toilets, and the contractor was obliged to replace these with a more durable one.

“Incidentally, Ottery received special mention in the recently awarded, highly coveted South African Housing Foundation’s Housing Project of the Year 2011. Last year the upgrading project also scooped the Best Project Award in the Institute of Municipal Engineering South Africa (IMESA) Western Cape 2011 Branch awards and was featured prominently in the SA Institute of Civil Engineers’ magazine,” he says. The City is monitoring all contractors involved in the Community Rental Units (CRU) project, including workmanship, he says.

When residents move back into their renovated homes all complaints will be fully investigated and responded to, using a “snag list”. Another complaint from residents was that their personal improvements in homes were being destroyed.

“The upgrade is providing better living conditions for its tenants, substantially raising the standard of the City’s aging housing stock and greatly improving people’s quality of life,” says Sonnenberg.

The first phase of the upgrade is due for completion in 2015, when 7 500 units will have been upgraded. To date, almost 2 500 units have been completed.