Cleaners pile rubble in suburb
THE CRISIS facing the provincial government’s R12 million Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) continues to deepen as workers have now been accused of turning the city’s streets into dump sites.
Yesterday fuming residents complained that the EPWP workers who cleaned parts of Kimberley North about six weeks ago, left piles of rubbish they had collected during the operation all over the place.
“The streets in that area (Kimberley North) are all in a mess because the workers left piles of uncollected rubbish in the area. The mess has been washed back into the roads by the rain,” said Willem Haupfleisch, a community member.
He said that the roads that were affected included Lawrence, Willis, Mathew and Maude streets in Kimberley North.
Haupfleisch said that the failure by both the Sol Plaatje Municipality and the Department of Roads and Public Works to properly manage the EPWP project was leading to the problem of uncollected rubbish.
“People cannot work in a big group of 20 to clean an area. The management of the programme is supposed to dedicate specific jobs to individuals. They cannot just move together like a flock of sheep,” he added.
Haupfleisch said that both the department and the municipality should be held directly responsible for the challenges plaguing the EPWP project in the city.
“The municipality cannot tell us that we must clean the city ourselves because we are paying rates and taxes. It can also not shift the blame to the department because nothing happens in Kimberley unless its approved by the municipal- ity,” he said.
Other members of the public said that the programme was plagued by problems because those who were actually employed did not want to work.
“We have received reports that the programme is being used by the ANC to disburse patronage to its members, especially ahead of the elections. If this is true, then it is clear that the people who have been employed there do not want to work. And unfortunately their managers are allowing them to get away with this,” a resident added.
The ANC in the Province has in the past vehemently refuted claims that it was using EPWP programme to secure jobs for its members.
The R12 million EPWP project was launched last year by Premier Sylvia Lucas and close to a thousand residents have been hired in the programme.
The EPWP programme is ex- pected to come to an end right after the general elections in May.
The spokeswoman for the department, Crystal Robertson, strongly disagrees with residents who say the ANC disburses patronage to its members through the EPWP.
“As a department we are not prepared to go into party politics. EPWP is a government initiative, which cascades down from national to municipal level. Since EPWP was launched in 2004, beneficiaries from different backgrounds have benefited. We have provided job opportunities to the poor and the unemployed no matter their political orientation, and we will continue to do so,” she said.
Robertson added that the department was currently aware of the challenge regarding the collection of the rubble.
“We have been in close consultation with Sol Plaatje Municipality regarding this project. As corrective measures the department has availed its our own flat trucks to assist the municipality with the removal of the rubble,” she added.
The spokesman for the municipality, Sello Matsie, said that they would attend to the uncollected rubble.
“The shortcoming was on us and we will now make a plan to fetch the rubble. We will also look into what led to this situation because we are working with the department in this programme,” Matsie added.