City urged to fully fund waterways progamme
SEVEN environmental organisations have launched an online petition calling for the City to fully fund the Liveable Urban Waterways programme after the municipality cut its budget.
The Zandvlei Catchment Forum, Friends of the Liesbeek, Friends of Constantia Valley Green Belts, Zandvlei Protected Areas Advisory Committee, Friends of Kirstenhof Wetland, Kirstenhof and Environs Residents Association and Young Urbanists NPC, all said the City’s actions would have devastating consequences, as it would delay vital projects designed to both protect rivers, wetlands, and water catchments, and improve water quality, ecological health, and community livelihoods until 2036.
The petition, titled “Waterways of Hope”, was launched earlier this week, and called on residents, environmental advocates, and supporters of sustainable urban development to join in urging the City to fully fund the programme.
The organisations said years of dedicated work and financial investment have gone into the initial stages of the programme’s roll-out.
This included comprehensive studies and extensive public engagement, to determine the sites and designs for the first phase, with implementation initially planned for the 2024/2025 financial year.
“Unfortunately, recent severe budget cuts by the City of Cape Town have led to a disappointing delay in the progression of most Liveable Urban Waterways project sites.
“This is a massive blow to our commitment to becoming a Waterwise City by 2040, leaving only four years to achieve this target.
“It is a massive blow to our commitment to conserve and promote biodiversity within our city.”
The Young Urbanists said the City faced rapid urbanisation, which, together with global issues such as climate change, put the survival of urban ecosystems, especially waterways, at serious risk.
The City confirmed that it had reduced the funding of the programme, primarily due to the reprioritisation of the capital budget.
“The City is also looking at projects that have been delayed and the possibility of replacing these projects, with projects identified as part of the Liveable Urban Waterways Programme.
“The capital provisions for the four deferred projects amount to R121 million, which accounts for construction activities and professional services.’’
Water and sanitation Mayco member Zahid Badroodien said the programme was continuing, even with delays.
“There are still two projects under the Liveable Urban Waterways programme that have a budget for the next few years (Sand/Langevlei and Vygekraal LUW Projects), and these projects are continuing with their design, to be followed by statutory authorisations and then implementation.
“With technical assistance and support from an international grant, a number of possible projects are being identified in the Diep/Sand catchment (which is immediately upstream of the Sand/Langevlei project site) as well as the Zeekoe catchment. Further work is under way in the Salt catchment (the Elsieskraal River),” said Badroodien.