Letters | Albert Falls Dam and pollution

It is most gratifying to see that the woes of Albert Falls Dam have finally hit the headlines. (The Witness, April 30.) However, I wish to distance myself from the narrative that I “sided with the organisers”. I am siding with no one other than residents from the Amble all around the dam.

And the tourists, who are the lifeline of our existence. In fact, all the technical detail, as published byThe Witness, was information that came to my attention for the first time. I don’t doubt for a moment that it is factually correct.

However, this was not the essence of my concern. My initial concern, and frustration, was vented purely at the DA. It is my understanding that political parties “exist for the people”.

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(“Fight” was the term so boldly stated by MPL DA spokesperson Hannah Lidgett inThe Witnessof April 24.) Albert Falls Dam is a KZN natural heritage site, if not national. I have always maintained that we are off the beaten track. Our tourism industry, residents, Msinsi Holdings, as a collective body, all “fight” alone.

There is no attention from umshwathi Municipality, the Department of Transport (DOT) and political parties (just senseless talk), with limited media coverage. Now that this predicament has been shifted into the limelight, all relevant stakeholders should embrace each other in finding the origin and solution for this, what has now become an ugly tug of war that is not in the interests of anyone. Especially the DA.

It must deliver on its pledge. If it was not forThe Witness, I shudder to think what another few years, being off the beaten track, would have done to a by now slowly but surely deteriorating Albert Falls Amble tourist hub. And the salt of the every day, Earth Day people, reliant hereupon.

Thank you so much toThe Witness. Anthony Timms Chairperson Albert Falls Ratepayers Association

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