While Grahamstown celebrates its 200th birthday, its infrastructure cannot help but show its age. Burst pipes are springing open across town and the municipality is trying to keep up with all of the maintenance work and residents' complaints.

Concerned residents alerted italGrocott's Mail/ital of a huge hole at the four-way crossing of Worcester and South Streets and a similar situation in York Street. For over two weeks the big hole at the four-way crossing has obstructed traffic and residents are worried that this could be a possible cause of accidents.

A burst sewage pipe along the side of the Grand Residence, on the corner of Cawood and High Streets, has also plagued residents. It sent sewage flowing along the side of the private student accommodation, and a private company had to be called in to fix it.

Apparently because the pipe that burst occupies private land it was not the municipality's responsibility to fix it, said Clint Daniels of Clint's Plumbing Maintenance Service, who was at the site on Thursday last week.

The municipality is however responsible for resurfacing the road after the pipe has been fixed, he added. Luthando Mashiya, of the municipality's engineering department, confirmed that they work on public drains and that there was an agreement with the Grand Residence on this issue.

Mashiya also said that the municipality is having increasing difficulties with the ageing infrastructure in the city and often have to make repairs, adding that the pipes burst often because of the water pressure. As for why the holes on public streets have not yet been filled, he told Grocott's Mail that they are currently awaiting materials - sand and a kinds of gravel and rocks - to cover the holes in Worcester and York Streets.

He said they are hoping to have covered the holes over the weekend. Looking for a long term solution, we need to replace the pipes that are very old and we will be doing an investigation into which ones need to be replaced, Mashiya said.