Central SA
North West determined to speed up dealing with backlogs─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 11:15 Thu, 15 Jun 2023
The North West MEC for Human Settlements, Nono Maloyi, has emphasised his determination to deal with the backlog of blocked projects in the province.
Following his recent visit to blocked projects in the Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District, Maloyi called on his departmental and municipal officials to work closely to ensure that all projects that have been brought to a halt are unblocked by December this year.
The North West Department of Human Settlements had revealed that it had already terminated about 15 developers' services who were found to be incompetent or performed poorly. Maloyi cited poor performance or non-delivery by appointed contractors delaying service delivery and as such leading to the department not achieving its mandate.
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In his maiden departmental budget speech at the North West Legislature this year, Maloyi said his department is determined to eradicate about 76 blocked projects comprising 8 746 houses dating 10 years back, across the province. He explained that procurement processes are already underway on projects that are within the 10-year time frame and require geotechnical and dolomitic studies.
Geotechnical and dolomite studies will be undertaken in areas that fall outside the 10-year study timeframe, for which a budget of R52 million has been set aside in this financial year.
Meanwhile, Maloyi stated that his department will include a number of all blocked projects in the currently active units, as they have been budgeted for in this financial year.
"We are currently going on procurement for the projects that could not be accommodated in active projects. The department intends to eradicate all blocked projects in the province. Currently, some are included in the current business plan, others are in the procurement plan for this year and the remainder are undergoing geotechnical and dolomitic studies,” he said.
Departmental spokesperson, Dineo Lolokwane, said that the department will visit other blocked projects in other districts while introducing contractors to different municipalities who have already been appointed to various human settlements projects including blocked projects.
