Times Of Swaziland: CTA SITEKI DEPOT FLOODED

CTA SITEKI DEPOT FLOODED
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 BY KHULEKANI NENE on 06/12/2019 01:24:00


SITEKI – Parts of the CTA Siteki depot were flooded yesterday following the
torrential rains which began on Tuesday night.
CTA is the Central Transport Administration.
The relentless rains left the CTA Siteki depot in a bad state, compelling
workers to abandon their normal duties and instead mop the floors.
The flooding was caused by a leaking roof and poor drainage, workers at the
depot said.
“This has been happening every year during the rainy season. Each time it
rains, we have to wipe water from the floor. However, this time the situation
was worsened by the torrential rains,” said a worker at the depot.
When this reporter visited the depot yesterday at around noon, some workers were
found mopping the floors.
Other workers were standing outside as their offices and workstations were
drenched.
In one of the offices, containers were placed around to collect some of the
water fom the leaking roof.
Some furniture and other items, including documents/files, were submerged in
water.
indication
Also, there were water stains on the ceiling, which is an indication that the
roof leaks have been going on for a while.
“It is embarrassing to work here. This depot doesn’t look like a government
building. If you can look around, the whole building is dilapidated,” said
another worker.
The supervisor/administrator at the depot was not in his office when this
reporter visited the depot around noon yesterday.
He did not respond to calls made to his mobile phone and it continued to ring
unanswered, even when some workers tried calling him using his office fixed
line.
This reporter wanted to find out to what extent the flooding had affected
operations at the depot.
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport
Khangeziwe Mabuza said they were aware of the dilapidated building at the CTA
Siteki deposit.
She said they were looking into how the structure could be rehabilitated and
given a facelift.
Mabuza said even before the flooding, they had discussed plans of rehabilitating
the structure but said she would not expand on what had been done so far.
Meanwhile, other government departments in Siteki with leaky roofs were swamped
with water, prompting workers to mop the floors.
However, there were no reported cases of serious flooding which could have
caused the suspension of operations.
The heavy downpour experienced in most parts of the country began on Tuesday
night, following days of very high temperatures.
Yesterday, this publication reported that the Meteorological Services had
predicted that more rains would be experienced throughout the week and next
week.