|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
A City at Work! Towards the establishment of a Water Demand/Conservation Unit
21 August 2007 Guided by the Executive Mayor’s drive for superior service delivery underlined by out of the box solutions, at its meeting of 16 August 2007 the Mayoral Committee dealt with the issue, among others, of the need for the establishment of a Water Demand/Conservation Unit. This move is informed by the need to reduce the amount of water wasted through uncontrolled leaks, including unmetered water connections and ongoing burst pipes due to old infrastructure. Over and above the innovative thinking by the municipality, this is also made possible by grant funding from the National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry to the tune of R5 700 000.00 following a successful submission of a project business plan by the municipality. This is a key service delivery imperative that has a direct impact on the lives of the people of Mogale City. The capacity is to be built through setting up a dedicated office fully equipped with the relevant tools and equipment as well as with trained personnel in dealing with water demand management. As part of its business plan to the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, the Mogale City Local Municipality also insisted on a condition that there must and will be employment opportunities created for indigent youths within the city. This also forms part of the Memorandum of Agreement which was entered into by the municipality with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry. On the issue of employment opportunities, the municipality also organized training for the indigent youths through support and use of Mvula Trust. To date, twelve (12) youths are currently undergoing a nine (9) weeks training programme in preparing them for the positions of Field Workers. The training will ensure that they understand the concept of Water Demand Management/Conservation Management Unit as well as the various tools relevant to the project. We must point out that all the students have done exceptionally well thus far. In total, the project will create at least 20 job opportunities. This will be made up of one (1) Water Demand Manager, four (4) Technicians, twelve (12) Field Workers, two (2) Control Room Operators and one (1) Data Analyst. Over and above this, local SMMEs stand to benefit as they will be engaged on a rotational basis to fix leaks and repair burst pipes as and when they are identified by the Field Workers and the community at large. The municipality has put together a Programme of Action that is concerned with ensuring that this project achieves its set objectives and is implemented within the stipulated timeframes. During the State of the City address on 14 March 2007, Executive Mayor Seerane said: “Given the challenges faced by our country on water resources, on Water Demand Management we have partnered Rand Water in a programme that achieved a reduction on water losses by 4% over the past 12 months. This project is ongoing with an aim of achieving the industry norms”. The current project seeks to continue where our partnership with Rand Water left off by improving the reduction losses. It is a commitment on the part of the municipality towards ensuring a sustained provision of superior service delivery in line with the mandate given to it by the people of Mogale City. It speaks to the innovativeness that the Executive Mayor often speaks about – to say that we will need out of the box solutions for our challenges precisely because they are complex in nature. A future business plan is currently being developed in order to ensure future funding so that the project can be sustained. Issued by the Mogale City Local Municipality. For more information contact Bongani Gaeje cell: 078 391 7953 tel: (011) 668 0516.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web development by  |
