GEORGE NEWS - A joint development programme aimed at empowering youth from rural communities with training in scarce skills, culminated in a visit last week to the George Municipality's Water Treatment Works and a training session in laboratory testing.

Initiated by the National Rural Youth Service Corps (Narysec), the programme involved theoretical training at Boland College, in association with The Water Academy, followed by six months' practical training at the George Municipality water treatment plants and related facilities. 

The young people will stay on at the municipality another six months for the community service component of the programme, where they will provide support services at water treatment facilities as needed.

The fourteen students, recruited from the Uniondale / Haarlem rural areas, have been working at the water and wastewater treatment plants in Uniondale and Haarlem since March.

This was supplemented with advanced on-the-job training and coaching by senior staff from the George Municipality Water and Waste Water Treatment sections.

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