Resident’s fibre optic cable woes continue

Date: 13 March 2021 By: Denise van Bergen

Louis Trichardt residents will probably find no peace of mind as long as the fibre-optic Internet project is in progress.

The Zoutpansberger was bombarded once more with calls from fuming residents this past week, who complained that their gardens, which had just been rehabilitated after being dug up by fibre contractors, are now being dug up once again.

Mr Jerry Cloete is only one of a number of residents who feel frustrated with this ongoing process. He told us that the previous contractors had dug a trench in front of his residence and only came back to lay their cables a week later. The trench was apparently not even properly closed (compacted) when they finished; no reinstatement was done at all. He said he had spent a steady amount of money on his lawn, which had in fact just started to recover after the damage inflicted on it, when he noticed another company last weekend (this time one of Vumatel/Britelink’s subcontractors) starting to mark off again in front of his house for a new trench to be dug, right next to the previous one.

The trenching at Cloete’s house, however, was done and completed neatly by Tuesday (9^th). “I don’t want to sound ungrateful because I know that we will all reap the rewards once the project is completed. But had I known that more trenches would be dug at my house, I would not have spent so much on rehabilitating my lawn. Should someone not have explained this process to us at the start of the project?” he wants to know. “Why don’t all the companies just use the same trench to lay their cables, instead of digging multiple trenches and causing so much damage to our gardens and infrastructure?”

But according to Mr Grant Small, the implementation manager for Britelink - Vumatel’s main contractor - trench sharing is against their company policy. “We are multiple competing companies. To avoid interfering with or causing damage to each other’s infrastructure and maintenance, trench sharing is prohibited,” he told the newspaper. 

Regarding damage to infrastructure, such as sprinklers, pipes, cables, etc. Small said that the relevant company and the municipality shared this responsibility as part of the reinstatement process.

According to Britelink’s conditions and guidelines, any service damage is to be reported by the contractor to the municipal council immediately. If a service cannot be repaired by the contractor on site, the council is to repair it, while the contractor is to remain on site for any help needed, to ensure that the service is repaired promptly.

Additionally, sidewalks (where trenches are being dug) are to be reinstated as found, or to a better state, within the proposed maximum five (5) days of being opened. Britelink also gives a one-year guarantee on work after they have completed work in the area. Quality control on reinstatement is of utmost importance, as contractors are not paid until Britelink is satisfied with the work and civil acceptance certificates (CAC) are signed off.

Small explained that they start with a designated area, finish their installation and then start to reinstate that whole area. Before moving on to the next area, Britelink inspects the completed area with the subcontractors (who did the work) and points out if any snags need to be fixed. When Britelink is fully satisfied that everything is up to standard, a CAC is signed off. This signing-off procedure, Small says, takes up to three days to complete.

Wayleave handovers are also done once they have finished in an area to confirm that the municipality is happy with the reinstatements.

Residents who are unhappy with reinstatements done by Vumatel/Britelink can lodge their complaints directly with Small at Tel 082 563 5409 or Kai Kohrs at Tel 062 034 0725.

Though this project in progress certainly comes with a whole lot of frustration for residents and businesses alike, keeping in mind that the product itself is a progressive step with great benefits is important. It offers high-speed Internet connectivity, Internet reliability and better Internet strength, to mention but a few, which could make life for every Internet-dependent individual, and especially businesses, so much easier once installation is complete and the services up and running. The set-up process, however, is timeous and, unfortunately, often fraught with challenges, as with any technical implementation. Keeping this in mind might therefore set us more at ease to focus on the end result of this product, which many of us will, in the long run, happily benefit from.

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Denise van Bergen

Denise van Bergen joined the Zoutpansberger/Limpopo Mirror in November 2020. She has previous experience as a journalist working for Die Pos in Modimolle.

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