TZANEEN: Glimmer of hope for Dam Wall project?
Increased costs to complete the Tzaneen Dam Wall project are explained but the project threatens to have an impact on landowners whose properties are adjacent to the dam.
Two weeks ago the LETABA HERALD reported on reasons as to why the completion of the dam wall project has come to a standstill.
Apart from a lack of funding, the Dam Safety Office had not received an application for a license nor a detailed design report with drawings for the extension phase of the wall.
Read: TZANEEN: Questions arise over construction of dam wall
The latest information received by the HERALD is that the construction section of the Department of Water and Sanitation is in the process of collecting all the required information for submission, hopefully before the middle of November.
The cost to complete the construction of the wall is now estimated between R250-and R320 million, with the estimated total cost of the project being R600 million.
So if the wall is built with say R300 million, why is it necessary to spend an additional R300 million?
When extending the dam wall and the resulting increase in capacity, it is only logic that the surface of the dam will be getting bigger, covering land that has never been below the water line (even when the dam was filled to capacity).
The additional R300 million, according to the information, is to compensate land owners who will be affected by this. Will it affect Jetty 3 and what about residential homes / townhouse complexes? At this stage no information is available as to whom will be affected or how much property is involved.
