/ Defenders

Neighborhood nuisance: Construction cleanup

Junk pile gets cleaned up in complex case

07:25 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 16, 2003

By Eileen Faxas / 11 News

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What's worse than a construction project that never seems to end? How about a construction project that gets abandoned half way through and junks up your neighborhood? 11 News went to the scene of an abandoned road project and tried to find who is responsible.

Joe Cox has had his vegetable patch since 1964. All those years Cox says he’s fought off bugs and birds and squirrels, but never rats. But rats are attacking all the neighbors’ gardens now. Cox says it’s obvious where they’re coming from. "From the pile of stuff down the road," said Cox. Pile of stuff is an understatement.

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Abandoned construction material litters his southwest Houston neighborhood. Overgrown fields teem with fire hydrants, concrete lane barriers and drainage pipes.

And the mess along Anderson road ends with piles of rusty rebar trapping trash from soda cans to roasting pans.

Zakhem Construction hasn't been there in two and a half years.The project was supposed include construction of a four-way street. 11 News found Zakhem Construction and an unexpected story.

Away from the television camera, Salim Zakhem told 11 News the city of Houston caused delays and stopped paying him, creating a financial strain on the company.

In addition, he says the city owes his company more than half-a-million dollars for work on other projects.So he quit the Anderson road job. But the company is bonded, so he can't understand why the city let it languish for two-and-a-half years.

The city of Houston agrees it delayed construction, but says the real problem is Zakhem lost its insurance.

In this complex case, what matters to Joe Cox is the junk pile is gone. “It didn't take long after you left here that they started (removing the garbage). I can't believe that. Hahaha!" said Cox.

The contractor cleaned up the area. In addition the city attorney tells 11 News another company is about to finally finish the widening of Anderson road.