AFTER months of planning and behind the scenes work, the uMngeni Local Municipality broke ground in its bid to improve infrastructure in various communities with the handover of seven projects this week.
All seven projects, with a collective value of more than R16 million, relate to road infrastructure improvements that were needed in some built up areas and rural parts of the local municipality, which is to the north-west of Pietermaritzburg.
Areas located in the municipality include Howick, Hilton, Nottingham Road and Mphophemeni.
On Tuesday, councillors and community members were present for the official handover to the contractors undertaking respective work orders for the resurfacing and rehabilitation of the roads in question.
Resources for uMngeni infrastructure improvements were scant, but by formulating their Municipal Infrastructure Development Maintenance and Resilience (Midmar) programme it enabled the sourcing of further funding for their projects.
Of the nearly R500m annual budget uMngeni received, only R11m was intended for roads upgrades, but that was bumped up to R27m and enabled the earmarked initiatives.
Midmar incorporates the municipality’s three-year plan to improve service delivery and revitalise infrastructure.
Local mayor Christopher Pappas added the “Khuluma Nathi” (isiZulu for talk to us) platform to the programme, which got various sectors like farmers, subsistence farmers, youth groups and seniors to share their thoughts on which projects needed priority.
Pappas said it was a difficult road to eventually get started, and being a small municipality, they will have to stagger their projects across directorates and manage their finances well.
“Infrastructure backlogs are our biggest challenge, and we require a dedicated programme to channel as much funds as possible to make progress.
“We still require hundreds of millions to make meaningful inroads.”
Pappas said years of under-investment and lack of maintenance have placed a huge burden on the current and future administrations.
“Over the next 10 months, we will break ground on a number of other projects and purchase vehicles and equipment to the value of about R65m. This relates to electricity, roads, stormwater, and facilities maintenance,” said Pappas.
Howick resident Peter Rice was chuffed about the upcoming developments at the local bridge, which was one of the earmarked projects.
“The Howick Bridge is the only bridge in the area, and around the corner from the popular waterfall.
“It is a narrow bridge that receives a high volume of traffic during peak hours and has been overworked over the years, without upgrades.”
“It has been patched a few times, but patches don’t last, and the speed-humps before and after the bridge will improve road safety,” he said.
Londiwe Ngcobo said she and members of the KwaHaza rural village near Mpophomeni were excited that some of the roads in their area were getting attention.
“I have lived all 33-years of my life in this area. When the summer rains come, it gets into our houses because of the gravel road.
“Our main road and the road on which I live are going to be resurfaced. That is a step in the right direction.”
Ngcobo said the developments would make life easier for her community, especially children, because the road near the local school will be upgraded.
“People in our community are also excited about the opportunity to get work with the contractor once construction begins.
“I'm happy for the guys who will be hired. Even if it is two or three months of work, the money earned will make a difference in their lives,” she said.
Sandile Mnikathi, the municipality’s deputy mayor, said the biggest challenge facing entities such as theirs was, “we are hopelessly underfunded”.
“Sometimes, for certain issues people in a community face, they go to the local council and not an MEC. For example, when the challenges with the Department of Education’s nutrition programme occurred.
“We forked-out R100 000 from our disaster management fund. It’s not our issue, but we can't sit on our hands and watch kids starve.”
Mnikathi said one of their long-term goals was to plan and execute proactive measures that would reduce damages when natural disasters struck, so that many more millions won't be needed for repairs.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE