Ward 10 a job creator: Schenk
In an interview hosted by Ndlambe FM station manager Dodo Shuping, ward 10 councillor and DA caucus leader Ray Schenk described his ward as a job creator for other wards in Ndlambe and further said he was required to have a wider vision beyond his ward because of that link to others.
“I cannot isolate my ward from other wards because my ward predominantly is a job creator for other wards.
“My vision is wider than just the ward. My vision has always been to make sure that the economy strives so that we create jobs for everybody,” he said.
Schenk said the Port Alfred CBD employed a lot of people.
“A lot of those people live in other wards. It is important that we continue to support the local businesses so that we can regenerate that economy in the CBD and Port Alfred in general.”
Schenk further asserted that the impact of Covid-19 and the stringent lockdown regulations had resulted in some businesses closing down and staff losing their jobs. However, he sounded very optimistic about the future.
“I am very pleased there is a movement towards the recovery of the economy in town itself. I must point out at the same time that people that have been doing a great job are Sunshine Coast Tourism and the Business Forum,” he said.
He admitted that recovery would not happen overnight. “It will take some time because everything went flat,” he said.
He also highlighted that Sunshine Coast Tourism and the Business Forum already had their sleeves rolled up for December holidaymakers.
“It's September so they have already started gearing up for December. We are hoping that we will be able to attract the people that we have attracted in the past,” he said.
Schenk is of the view that Ndlambe is fortunate to have a higher recovery rate from Covid-19 and lower mortality rate.
“I think overall in Ndlambe we have been very fortunate.
“Yes, we have death and we regret that and give condolences to all the people that have lost their loved ones during the pandemic. It's very sad to have lost a number of people.
“But at the same we are very fortunate that we have not had so many people and our recovery is 90% or 92%, something like that,” he said.
Asked about municipal street cleaners, Schenk said:
“We have got good people in our municipality and that s the reason why the town is kept clean and why people comment on the cleanliness of the town.
“Yes of course there are some challenges. We must admit that sometimes there is sewage that runs in the CBD. Unfortunately that is because of blocked drains or something. It never lies there very long.”
He was adamant that municipal officials responded quickly to such problems but also admitted some problems took a bit longer to resolve because the problem was bigger. “Overall I am very happy with the municipal officials who do the work on the ground,” he said.
As the finance portfolio councillor on the executive committee, Schenk gave his view on the issue of overtime expenditure.
“Overtime is always a very sensitive issue. Of course there are times when overtime is necessary and you can't avoid it.
You can't leave the sewage running in the street because it is Saturday, and leave it until Monday,” he said.
He said in cases like that, overtime was legitimate, but admitted that there would always be some people who dragged their feet in order to manipulate the system.