A meet-and-greet-type of public meeting was held in Bergville recently.
The UThukela District Municipality Executive Committee member and Chairperson for the Water and Technical Services Portfolio Committee Cllr MV Khumalo was accompanied by the Manager in the Mayoral Office Mr L Mthonti and Okhahlamba Local Municipality councillor Sgubudu.
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The team made their way to Acton Homes on Thursday to introduce the contractor that will build sewer reticulation in Ward 11. During his welcome remarks, Cllr Sgubudu acknowledged the plight of the people living in the area.
He said the levels of unemployment are very high and that the population has increased immensely over the past few years.
“People in this area are generally poor, but nevertheless, government is doing all it can to push back the frontiers of poverty. We welcome the project that is going to be introduced today and also hope that through it, people will benefit,” Cllr Sgubudu said.
The purpose of the day was outlined by Cllr MV Khumalo who started by passing an apology on behalf of the District Mayor Cllr AS Mazibuko who had other commitments. He then gave a brief background about the cabinet visit in Okhahlamba a few months ago. He told the audience that there were backlogs picked up by cabinet members that needed urgent intervention.
“Following the visit, we have since installed water-borne sanitation in Bergville and rid the town of the septic tank system. We have also built the Bergville Waste Water Treatment Plant to purify water. We are here today to introduce a contractor who is going to build the reticulation of sewer in the area,” Cllr Khumalo explained.
He then encouraged the community to work together with the municipality in order for the project to be successful. Cllr Khumalo said uThukela District Municipality has invested a lot of money in this project alone. The contractor that will undertake the project is Shula Construction.
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The source of funding is from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). The project is envisaged to create about 30 temporary job opportunities for the locals. It is expected to take up to 14 months to complete.
An amount of over R 50 million has been allocated for the project.
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