GEORGE NEWS - Thembalethu beneficiaries of the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme (UISP) housing project which is currently being rolled out in Ward 21 and other areas in George are not happy with the project's progress and implementation. They demand the project to be stopped until their demands are met.
Chairperson of the steering committee at Ward 21, Siphelo Manxele, alleges that the housing project is not going as planned and that there are many irregularities, including neglect of disabled people and a lack of communication between the municipality and the community.
The first phase of the UISP housing project in Thembalethu, started in February 2017, was completed on 30 April 2018. The George Municipality has with the aid of provincial funding handed over 200 houses to beneficiaries.
Grievances
Manxele said since the start of the project the George Municipality hasn't called an annual general meeting ( AGM) to update residents about the project and elect a new beneficiary liaison committee (BLC). He added that some of the finished houses have cracks. "We have many problems like houses with cracks and in other houses no ventilation, and when beneficiaries report these matters to the current BLC, no one attends to our grievances," said Manxele.
The UISP housing project in Thembalethu. Photos: Zolani Sinxo
Municipal spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose responded to a list of grievances sent to the George Municipality with regards to the Thembalethu UISP project. On the question of ventilators and cracks she said, "Every house has a three-month retention period and if any cracks appear in that period it will be rectified before the five-year structural guarantee starts. Air vents are not part of the norms and standards of the Provincial Department of Human Settlements PDoHS".
Edwards-Klose said an AGM was arranged for the end of 2018, but it was disrupted by the community. "An AGM is being planned and the date will be communicated to the beneficiaries."
The following is a list of grievances sent to the municipality with responses from Edwards-Klose:
Q. Construction will continue only if a new BLC is elected.
A. Construction is currently underway and the stoppage of the project will result in standing time for the contractor, which will place the project in jeopardy.
Q. We need beneficiaries of the project to benefit from the project, such as skills development.
A. The subsidy quantum does not include funding for skills development. The contractors try to do skills development by giving on-site training in an informal way during the construction process.
Q. We don't want to see this project being dominated by outsiders.
A. The contractors are on the database of the funder, the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements, as per their requirement. It is requested that the contractor make use of labour from Thembalethu.
Q. We demand meeting with the Director of Human Settlements.
A. The Director of Human Settlements is Mr Charles Lubbe. Mr Lubbe has met with the aggrieved parties several times in the last couple of weeks.
Q. Some people have been approved as beneficiaries but are still living in shacks as their houses have yet to be built.
A. The construction of the houses is done in phases and only qualifying beneficiaries over 35 years who have qualified for a housing subsidy will receive a house.
Q. We have about nine houses that are not occupied, while people need houses and live in rented houses.
A. The municipality is in the process of acquiring additional funding from the provincial department of human settlements to rectify the houses after they were vandalised by the community.
Q. Disabled people are neglected and were never informed that their applications are different.
A. The subsidy application process for disabled persons is not different. The disabled beneficiaries must get a doctor's letter to confirm their disability and the subsidy application is then submitted to the provincial department of human settlements for approval.
Q. Fake aluminium windows is not in our agreement as beneficiaries
A. The windows are not aluminium, they are Betcrete Polymer with aluminium openers, approved by the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements and the municipality.
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