Update
GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality has been inundated with comments regarding all the road upgrades taking place throughout the city in the past few days and this is understandable, considering the impact on all road users.
George Municipality is aware of the inconvenience caused by these infrastructure upgrades, but, as stated a few months ago by George Executive Mayor Alderman Leon van Wyk, the municipality is committed to optimising road upgrades across the city.
“George Municipality continually pursues other sources of funding to address as many issues as possible. The road upgrade projects will utilise funding from three sources over the next three financial years including George Integrated Public Transport Network (GIPTN) funding, own budget and Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding, as well as in the case of the York Street Circles, private funding,” said Van Wyk.
The most frequently asked question is why these road upgrades on major routes are all being implemented within a short time period and were not staggered to lessen the overall impact on road users.
The main reason for this is the source of funding and the time frames in which expenditure must be incurred. Grant funding has very specific conditions attached, one being the period during which the allocated funding must be spent – if the funding is not used it does not roll over to the next financial year and it is returned to the source.
With this in mind, it must also be noted that certain government departments work on the premise that if a local municipality achieves a certain expenditure percentage by November/December of the municipal financial year, additional funding may be diverted from under-spending municipalities and additional grant funding can be allocated during the national adjustment budget process.
Funding received from Western Cape Provincial Government for the upgrading and maintenance of Proclaimed Roads must be fully spent by 31 December (CJ Langenhoven and York streets). Achieving expenditure targets, i.e. the percentage of spend achieved on the Public Transport Network Grant Funding projects (Airways, Golf, Market and Tabata streets), places George Municipality in a very good position to receive additional funds during the national adjustment budget process.
George has been blessed this year with large grant and external allocations, far more than in any other financial year, to upgrade infrastructure for residents.
The upgrading of this infrastructure is very costly and for the municipality to fund these upgrades would require many millions that could only be generated by drastically increasing rates and taxes, as the cost would have to be funded by revenue from municipal sources.
Says Browen Johnson, Portfolio Councillor for Civil Engineering Services, “The municipality is grateful for these additional income sources that have enabled us to upgrade overall infrastructure and pedestrian experience, which ultimately benefit business, promote investment and improves quality of life.”
As far as is possible, major construction work is scheduled annually for completion by December, or for commencement in January of the next year.
George is a major tourist and holiday destination, and the annual December-January peak holiday season is also the peak economic season for many businesses in George, both big and small. Apart from its abundant natural attractions, George’s main attraction is also its excellent services and infrastructure.
These road upgrades will significantly improve the main accesses to George, as well as other well-travelled routes.
For the duration of the construction period, traffic officials and/or point duty officers will be utilised during peak hours, where possible, to try and assist with traffic flow.
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