GEORGE NEWS - In his address to Council during the first ordinary council meeting of the year, Mayor Melvin Naik gave his heartfelt thanks to those officials who worked over the festive period. He called 2019 a "challenging year", saying it will be an exceptionally busy year for councillors and officials given the fact that it is an election year on top of all the other tasks that need to be tackled.
Naik requested the various directorates to improve their efficiency and quality of service delivery. He mentioned illegal dumping as a huge challenge, especially in the previously disadvantaged areas.
Highlights from Naik's address
• The contract with Muravah Building & Civils, the contractor who landed the project to upgrade the Nelson Mandela Boulevard in Thembalethu, has been terminated. Naik said George Municipality received no response from the company after they've been served with a notice of termination last year. "The contract was terminated in accordance with the general conditions of contract," said Naik.
• The blue and green bag tender has been awarded and the service provider started on 1 February. Citizens will now be able to put garden refuse in green bags to be removed.
• The department of community services, in collaboration with the Garden Route District Municipality, will launch a home composting project within the next week. Some of the challenges this department faces are vandalism at libraries and budget cuts, resulting in them receiving only 10% of the number of books they received in previous years. Online resources such as the "Britannica Online" have been stopped due to budget cuts.
• Electronic agendas is something councillors will have to get used to. George Council wants to go paperless by June.
• Approximately 2 700 residents of All Bricks in Thembalethu were provided with chemical toilets as an interim measure. The provincial department of human settlements has appointed a professional team to plan the formalisation of the area. Housing projects being implemented include the Metro Grounds, Wilderness Heights, Military Veterans, Golden Valley, Erf 325 East (phase 1 and 2), Ext 42 and 58, and the Thembalethu UISP projects.
In the department of human settlements, the main challenges are staff shortages, skills transfer and training within the section. Ongoing protest action has had a negative effect on service delivery.
Read the full Mayoral address on 31 January.
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