Digging up the Town

The neighbouring town of Ladybrand, where my vet is and I normally do my monthly grocery shopping is sporting dug up streets for the festive season! This town borders on Lesotho and shop owners depend on business from the people living and working in that country. I arrived there last Monday (I took my old dog, Megan for her summer clip) to find the main streets dug up. Those that weren't yet "de-tarred" were cordonned off so that there was no parking for the cars.

Having worked for the regional and provincial newspaper, I took photos of the terrible state of the streets and spoke to several business owners, including a lovely young gentleman who manages the tourism board.

They all told me that the municipality employed contractors who dug the streets up one week before Christmas. No businesses owners were consulted or asked to be present at the meetings held in this regard. They felt they were losing business due to the fact that a) parking was a major problem and b) people were not keen to drive down the street with bulldozers and front-end loaders pushing, lifting and swinging huge chunks of tar through the air.

I am due to make a trip to Ladybrand again this week and wonder if any progress has been made with the roadworks. I cannot imagine that the contractors would have worked over the Christmas period and if they will continue to work again this week.

More again when I return from my shopping trip to Ladybrand.