West housing project progresses
“The project is now making good progress because people from the community have finally been selected to do the work.”
The Tshwane metro can now finally start installing electricity at an informal settlement in the west of Pretoria.
This follows after the Letsema project was launched last year to erect stands for low-cost housing with water and electricity in the Gomorrah informal settlement, also known as Booysens extension 4.
“The project is now making good progress because people from the community have finally been selected to do the work,” said local ward councillor, Frik van Wyk.
Van Wyk said two projects within the Letsema project that was currently underway.
“One of the projects is the electrification of the shacks around the wetland, which is located on the same site,” he said.
“A liaison officer for the community and labour workers has been selected from the community.
“This means that this project can finally go ahead.”
He said a second project was to secure the nursery that burned in 2017 in the area.
The nursery’s office block was set on fire during a water and electricity protest by the informal settlers.
Van Wyk said the idea was to build a wall around the nursery to secure the premises.
“At this stage, there are some workers who cannot work at the nursery because of their safety,” he said.
He said once the wall is completed, these workers can start working again.
“We got stuck with this project because there was a struggle to determine who exactly had to work on this project from the community,” he said.
READ MORE: West housing project launched
He said those people were selected on Tuesday.
“Now this project can also move forward.”
Van Wyk also expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation of the community leaders.
“Everyone works well together,” he said.
He said community leaders of the Gomorrah informal settlement have also committed themselves to a better cooperation with the residential residents.
“I plan to arrange a community meeting so that they can interact with each other and that there will always be an open line for communication between the two groups,” he said.
“It’s always good to know that you can talk to your neighbour because there is a good line of communication.”
The Letsema project was launched on 12 August by mayor Stevens Mokgalapa at the informal settlement.
He said the completion date was expected to be 19 March 2021.
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