Construction to start today for 777 Valhalla Park subsidised homes

CONSTRUCTION of the Valhalla Park housing development, which will empower the city’s most vulnerable families with 777 subsidised homes, will start today, the city said.

Friday’s sod-turning of the R42 million project signalled the city’s “relentless commitment to this development despite various intermittent land invasion attempts and gang-related threats which have stalled the progress of this project”, mayoral committee member for human settlements Benedicta van Minnen said yesterday.

The design and development process was being done in accordance with approved national human settlements development and engineering standards by a professional project team comprising all relevant professional disciplines.

All the necessary funding and planning approvals were in place, she said. Following these approvals, the contract for construction of the civil engineering services was recently awarded to Shar Civils cc.

The scope of work for this contract included the construction of internal services for 777 sites and upgrading existing services. The contract would employ local labour and sub-contractors.

“A democratically representative project steering committee (PSC) is in place and consultants and city officials oversee the project to ensure effective implementation.”

The PSC was intended to serve as the link between the project manager and the local community. The PSC was the vehicle for community communication pertaining to aspects of the development.

The PSC consisted of subcouncil four and five chairmen, ward councillors, elected community representatives, and city officials.

“The sod-turning event that took place on Friday signifies a new phase for this land, which has experienced various land invasion attempts. It is the start of a new life for our beneficiaries and bringing dreams to fruition as they become property owners which can unlock economic opportunities,” Van Minnen said.

“This development demonstrates the city’s ongoing and relentless commitment to providing housing and economic opportunities for some of the city’s most vulnerable residents. The city will continue to make every effort to ensure that this housing development is completed so that its beneficiaries can have access to improved living conditions.”

She encouraged communities to support them in their efforts.

Beneficiaries would be allocated from Valhalla Park, as well as from other areas, in accordance with the housing allocation policy.