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Issue No. 286 | 21 October 2005 |
Lord of the Lobster Legs
Interview: Under Fire Politics: And the Winners Are ... Industrial: Un-Australian Economics: The Common Wealth History: Walking for Justice International: Deja Vu Legal: The Rights Stuff Review: That Cinderella Fella Poetry: Is Howard Kidding?
Family Grieves an Enterprise Worker Good Heavens - Della Plays Santa Maori Take Challenge to Canberra Canberra Coy on Promised Statements
The Soapbox Postcard The Locker Room Parliament
DIY Tool Thus Spake Sydney Uni Morgan�s Way Vote 1 Dictator Howard�s Choice Buying peace Of Mind Coolies Bullish Unfair ads Rev Kev Speaks Politicians
Labor Council of NSW |
News Drips Fail Water Test
Despite Utilities Minister Carl Scully announcing tough new water saving measures, maintenance workers have revealed that hundreds of reported leaks remain unfixed. "This is just one tenth of the problem in Sydney. The ASU has been urging Sydney Water for months to employ at least 80 more maintenance workers to help deal with the massive backlog of leaks but it refuses," says ASU secretary, Sally McManus. "In Sydney's northern suburbs, there are more than 100 reported but unfixed leaks and problems with pipes and valves. Sydney Water maintenance workers are being overwhelmed by reports from the public of cracked and leaking pipes and need more resources to meet the demand, she said. The latest catalogue of leakages have been documented since the Minister promised improvement, a month ago. Sydney Water spokesperson Colin Judge said an internal investigation would now be conducted about delays in responding to leaks. "All we can do is apologise and a thorough investigation is being carried out," he said. However, McManus said Sydney Water has known for months, even years, about the delays and reasons for them. "More than a million litres of drinking water has been lost from one pipe in the past week. Billions more litres from thousands of ageing pipes will be lost unless Sydney Water employs more staff to fix the problems. "Sydney Water maintenance workers are frustrated that they continue to report the problems to Sydney Water once the public has alerted them to leaks, but the it continually fails to give them the authority to do the work," Ms McManus said.
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