No dancing in the rain

GEORGE NEWS - For most of us the latest rain brought joy and relief. But for Johnny Gossman and his wife, Emelia Gregg, the rain brought a smelly flood.

The couple lives in Hope Street and during heavy rain, storm water flows over the lowered kerbs into their property.

When the George Herald visited Gossman on Friday 17 January, he and his son had just finished draining the water from their yard, which saved their house from flooding. The garage and adjacent flat were under water.

"This has been going on for years and we only get sent from pillar to post. My entire house has been under water a couple of times. Once the water was so deep my dog swam in the backyard. It can't carry on like this. The water stinks of sewage and we have to clean up the mess every time," Gossman said.

According to municipal communications officer Debra Sauer, officials of the Directorate of Civil Engineering arranged a site visit with the complainant. It was then decided to raise the section of sidewalk at the back of the lowered kerb to ensure the water does not flow on to the property.

"The second problem is that Gossman's erf drains towards the railway lines which is Transnet's property, but due to the storm water channel being overgrown, drainage is not possible. A similar complaint was received from another Hope Street resident. Walter Hendricks, director of Community Services, will contact Transnet to inform them of their responsibility to clean the Transnet reserve. The municipality is not allowed to utilise municipal funds and/or resources on property not under their ownership," said Sauer.

As for the stink, Sauer says it is caused by members of the public and is not related to the sewer network line. "Officials of Protection Services have been monitoring the area and will keep monitoring regularly to prevent vagrancy," she said.

The overgrown storm water channel behind Gossman's house in Hope Street.