Rural communities to benefit from water
RECRUITING locally-sourced contractors for a major water project was the key talking point at King Cetshwayo District's (KCD) introduction of the contractor for the SSA3 Middledrift Water Project on Monday.
The project will provide water to rural areas under Nkandla and uMlalazi municipalities, both under King Cetshwayo District.
The district municipality invested R30-million in this one-year project which is expected to commence next month.
The 8km pipeline will cross the areas of three traditional authorities, namely Nxamalala Tribal Authority, Inkosi Zuma, and Inkosi Ntshangase, whose subjects will benefit directly.
Speaking at the handover to the contractor, District Mayor Thami Ntuli said 30% of the project would go to local businesses as sub-contractors, and that this was nonnegotiable.
“Now is the time for our people to be beneficiaries of the work done in their areas,” said Ntuli. He called upon communities to respect the infrastructure by not interfering with water systems, stating that it delays the reticulation of water to the majority of people intended to benefit from it. KCD Deputy Mayor Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, who is also chair of the technical services committee, said it was unfortunate that since the formation of local government 22 years ago, rural communities are still living without running water.
“Infrastructure is present but with no running water, and this is what we are here to investigate intensively. We will make it a priority to address this within the period we are given by the people to govern them.
“There is no substitute for water. “We have to do this with speed. People in rural areas should have access to water like those in urban settings. “Today we should not be speaking about areas with no water, but instead we should be talking about the maintenance of the infrastructure,” said Dlamini.
He promised that nine in 10 households in King Cetshwayo District would have access to clean running water by 2025.
30% of the project will go to local businesses as sub-contractors