Government launches bottling plant to assist community
The project is aimed at encouraging community members to form co-operatives which have been identified by government as a vehicle towards job creation and also to elevate economic growth.
In a bid to bridge the unemployment gap in the Donkerhoek community in Mkhondo Local Municipality, the provincial government instituted a water-bottling project. According to the MEC for the Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Dedet), Ms Pinky Phosa, the project which was handed over to a local co-operative is part of an economic intervention, community upliftment by government.
She added that the project is aimed at encouraging community members to form co-operatives which have been identified by government as a vehicle towards job creation and also to elevate economic growth.The R2.9 million plant which was constructed by the Dedet, part of the local government’s contribution in the Provincial Comprehensive Rural Development Programme (CRDP) in a bid to address job creation and poverty alleviation within the municipality.
Speaking during the handover, Ms Stafu Ndaba who is the chairperson of the Water bottling plant cooperative expressed her joy and also encouraged her colleagues to put effort in making the innitiative a success.
She also indicated that the entire community had been looking forward to the official handover of plant.
Mr Reuben Mogano, who is the acting CEO for the National Development Agency, said that the handover serves as an indication towards community development enterprise and endorses the the principle of government’s partnership with communities.
“We are here to showcase the economic inclusion and local participation. This is not just a project but a community development enterprise,” he added.
