Reassuring George residents they are top of mind, water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina chose to commemorate World Water Day, Saturday 22 March, in our sprawling town.
"We wanted to say to the people of George, you are not forgotten, we are here. Hence we've come here to observe World Water Day," Majodina said at a community engagement in Thembalethu.
The informative community meeting followed a site inspection of the newly upgraded water treatment works at the Garden Route Dam and a handover of generators installed at the dam's pump station to George Municipality earlier that day.
The upgrades at the dam and pump station included two key enhancements: one, replacing the old 600 diameter pipe with an 800 diameter steel outlet pipe to enable more raw water to be pumped into the dam, and the other, the fitting of two 1 250kVA generators to secure uninterrupted water pumping, including during power failures.
This was one of the 12 sub-projects of the R1.4bn Water Security and Remedial Works Project being carried out in George. Funded by National Treasury's Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) and channelled to George Municipality through the Department of Water and Sanitation's Regional Bulk Water Grant (RBIG), the local municipality not only acts as implementing agent of the overall project, but has also contributed R305m of its own money to the overall project budget.
The multi-phase project that started in 2022 is anticipated to be completed by the end of this year and is, according to Majodina, an example of a successful interdepartmental collaboration between the national, provincial and local government.
Majodina said the handing over of the completed project on Saturday reaffirms government's commitment to expand access to safe drinking water to all citizens.
"George Municipality is rapidly growing with the current daily potable water demand of 38 million litres per day, and its projected increase to 106 million litres per day over the next 50 years. Today is a demonstration of our commitment to ensure that we meet the rising water demand that is occasioned by the rapid population growth," she said.
George Mayor Jackie von Brandis thanked the minister, her department as well as Treasury for the financial investment in the city's water security for future generations.
The municipality provides water services to 294 942 residents from 85 931 households across 28 wards, including Pacaltsdorp, Thembalethu and coastal areas such as Kleinkrantz, Wilderness, Victoria Bay, Herold's Bay and Gwaiing. Over the years, the municipality has seen a massive influx of people from other areas, and the 12 phases of the project are set to keep the taps flowing amid the continued expansion. In addition, the projects will also prevent sewage spillages through the upgrading of critical sewage pump stations.
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