Promises, promises – show us the tar

I PAID my first visit to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park as a pre-teen and have returned on numerous occasions over many years.

I also had the privilege of serving as an honorary officer and it saddens me to see the deterioration in the infrastructure of the park.

On 22 July 2013, Bandile Mkhize was quoted in the press as saying that R26-million had been allocated in the current budget for the re-tarring of the roads.

On 3 March this year, Mkhize was again quoted as saying that the tender had been awarded and work was about to begin (no mention of who had been awarded the tender).

Once again, on 16 May, Mkhize is quoted as saying, ‘I am pleased to inform you that a contractor has been appointed to redo the tar roads at Hhluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. They should be on site as we speak since the site was handed over to them on Monday last week (5 May).’

Once again the contractor was not named. To date, no work is apparent on the roads and it is surely past the time for Mkhize to tell the public, who after all pay his salary, what exactly the situation is regarding the rehabilitation of the roads and to give the assurance that the money allocated has not been used for other purposes.

ROGER LAVOIPIERRE