'Improve pavements, please'

GEORGE NEWS - A resident who was injured after slipping on some loose rocks on the pavement along Langenhoven Road near George Hospital says the municipality should do a better job of maintaining the town's pavements.

Harry Wesson had dropped his car in town for a service and decided to walk to his home in Heatherlands when he slipped on loose rocks on the gravel pavement that had become slippery after rain. His chest took the full brunt of the fall, hitting a large protruding rock.

"A kind passer-by saw it happen and stopped to help me on my feet again and take me home, for which I am truly grateful."

Wesson's doctor ordered X-rays to be done since he was in so much pain. "Fortunately, it was only severe bruising. Since this incident, I feel strongly that the municipality should do more to provide better pavements for pedestrians, especially where there are high volumes of pedestrians, such as in Langenhoven Road."

The Department of Civil Engineering promised to investigate Langenhoven Road and "effect repairs where required".

Chantel Edwards-Klose, George Municipality media liaison officer, said, "The programme of paving and upgrading for pavements is in the process of being approved by the Civil Engineering Technical Committee and cannot be published at this point."

Many other complaints have been received from pedestrians about neglected pavements. In July, the municipality promised that the pavement in York Street between Jan Smuts Avenue and Kwikspar would be repaired after a woman was badly injured after a fall, but no work has been done there to date.

In a letter in the 30 July issue of George Herald, another resident, PJ Steingrover, likened a section of the pavement along York Street near Redefine Boulevard to an "obstacle course".