- The Department of Water and Sanitation wants to find permanent water supply solutions for the residents of the Northwest.
- Minister Senzo Mchunu is creating a steering committee to address water issues in the northwest.
- The team is expected to report on the plan the first week of February.
Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu has his sights set on establishing a steering committee to oversee and ensure that the management of water and sanitation services is sustainable in the North West.
A technical work team will be established, made up of professional engineers from the Department and Water and Sanitation, the Magalies Water Board, as well as all the district and local municipalities, to carry out the technical work of evaluation, planning and implementation of the water and sanitation needs. of the entire province.
Accompanied by Deputy Minister Dikeledi Magadzi, Mchunu spent Thursday and Friday in Maquasi Hills and the local municipalities of Ramotshere Moiloa, respectively, to assess the state of water and sanitation, and to receive an update on water supply interventions. that are being implemented through the Water Services. Infrastructure Grant (WSIG).
“We are establishing a political steering committee chaired by myself and the premier of the entire province. Under that steering committee, there will be a technical working team that will be convened by the [department]and in it, will be Magalies Water, as well as all the local districts and municipalities, whether or not they are affected by these challenges for now,” added Mchunu.
READ | We’re fighting spills everywhere, says Mchunu of sewage concerns across the country
He said that the technical structure will be represented by technicians such as engineers because “it is a purely technical committee that will be in charge of evaluating each municipality, seeing the available resources, analyzing the existing water schemes, those projects that are complete and incomplete, and all the causes of stress on water in the province, and find solutions”.
“This task force should be able to provide us with a detailed plan of what needs to be done, the costs and contributions from each municipality, at the local and district level, and the board and department to restore water in areas where there are challenges.”
Meetings with various stakeholders in the water sector once again showed the need for collective planning and implementation of action plans by all stakeholders to ensure synergy and sustainable provision of water and sanitation services in the province. .
Mchunu added:
Water problems in the Northwest exist and are serious, but they are not insurmountable. They are not such a big problem that we put our hands to our heads and wonder how we are going to solve it, but rather it needs a collective approach. We, therefore, are going to fix this ourselves as the national, provincial and local government, as well as the actors in this water sector.
The minister said that he is confident that the formation of the structures will yield positive results to solve the water problems that affect the majority of the communities in the various parts of the province.
The Technical Task Force is expected to report on the compression plan the first week of February.
