Projects in the pipeline for George
M PP Tertuis Simmers has been moved from George to head the constituencies of Kannaland and Oudtshoorn as from 1 May. Over the ten-month period (July 2017 to April 2018) that he served the DA as George’s political head, several budgeted projects, many of which had been requested over a number of years, were placed on the new three-year budget cycle. Under his baton the projects, requested through the council-approved IDPs as well as in Council’s own project proposals, were added on the budget cycle of 2018 - 2021 and later, to be rolled out in George by the relevant provincial departments.
These include housing projects in Syferfontein (5 814 houses by 2022, already in the planning and environmental evaluation stages), Wilderness Heights (117 houses by 2022, with the design phase for this project to continue in the 2018/19 financial year) and Thembalethu (4 350 houses to be yielded, with construction of phases 2 to 4 either in the process or to commence during 2019).
Libraries, sport and schools
Other projects in the pipeline include broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity for local libraries and boreholes at key sport facilities (R108 000) to ensure sport continues in times of drought. Three new schools are planned: in Thembalethu a primary school to the cost of R70-million (2022 to 2024) and in Pacaltsdorp a primary and a high school totalling over R140-million (2025 to 2027).
The following schools will be upgraded: Heatherlands High School (over R27-million; starting August 2020), George High School hostels (R25million; April 2019 to December 2020), Pacaltsdorp Secondary School (R70-million; September 2019 to December 2021) and Conville Primary School (R88-million; August 2027 to April 2029).
Healthcare facilities
Both Blanco and Pacaltsdorp clinics are being upgraded, and should be completed by March 2019. The costs of these projects are R900 000 and R1,4-million respectively. The replacement of the Thembalethu Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Healthcare Treatment (HT) will be completed by
June 2019. A new Ambulance Station, worth R8-million, is in the pipeline for Uniondale for 2021 to 2023.
“Due to the constrained current national financial fiscus, all 14 budget votes had to be prepared in a smart and resilient manner with a tight fiscal policy framework,” said Simmers. “We had to ensure that service delivery to all our residents across the province are not impacted by this financial cycle and ongoing drought. This is a budget for our people and is pro-poor, while also emphasising the provincial government’s commitment to our residents to ensure that we are better together.”
View a summary of all the projects lined up for the George municipal area online, at www.georgeherald.com