Durban — KwaZulu-Natal Public Works and Infrastructure MEC Martin Meyer will, to all intents and purposes, turn the province into a construction site with about 10 capital projects announced when he delivered his budget speech at the legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
Giving his maiden speech, the MEC announced that in the financial year of 2024/2025 his department has prioritised infrastructure projects.
Topping his list was Mosvold Hospital in the Umkhanyakude district, where the construction of 40 blocks for staff accommodation and paediatric units, with a budget of R200 million, will commence.
Second on the list is the King Dinuzulu Hospital (formerly King George VI in Durban where a new TB complex is to be built. R187m has been set aside for it. Other projects are Ngwelezane Hospital, Empangeni, where an orthotics and prosthetics centre is to be built. R63m has been set aside for that.
Also on MEC’s list is Woodlands Primary School, in the uMgungundlovu district. R56m has been set aside for new classrooms and administration buildings.
Other projects include Dlilanga High School, in the uMkhanyakude District in the province’s north-east. The school is set to get an upgrade. For that project, R66m has been earmarked. Menzi High School, uMlazi, will get upgrades and additions to the tune of R44m.
Ulundi’s Mahlabathini Primary School will be upgraded with the addition of more classrooms. Meyer said R78m had been set aside for that project.
The Nongoma road traffic inspectorate’s offices would be upgraded to the value of R98m, he said.
In the Dumbe local municipality, the Paulpietersburg agricultural offices worth R42m are to be built.
“In the 6th Administration, the department has completed a total of 1424 capital projects across the province, amounting to R6.268 billion,” Meyer said.
“Our goal is to increase that, bearing in mind that our goal is to reduce the completion of projects to a fraction of the stipulated time,” said the MEC.
To optimise the delivery of infrastructure, the MEC said his department would alter its turnaround time frames for significant projects, adding that these would allow his department to assess where there was a need to improve, while regaining the confidence of client departments.
He said the infrastructure budget was R1306.262 billion, or 72.92% of the overall budget.
In mitigating high unemployment among youth especially in the built environment, he said the department had taken 34 unemployed and promising students to pursue degrees in built environment studies. The department had also taken on 49 interns with built environment qualifications.
Meyer said that to resolve the province’s water shortages and the provision of drinking-quality water, 49 steel water tanks had been erected, and 1028 boreholes sunk in various schools, clinics, and other government institutions across the province.
He said that 242 school sanitation projects had been completed.
“In ensuring uninterrupted services, particularly to health facilities, 216 generators have been installed and commissioned for back-up energy power amounting to over R114m,” he said.
“To date 203 facilities, comprising schools, clinics and other government facilities have been refurbished as part of the Storm Damage Programme.”
A total of 141 government buildings which had asbestos used in their construction have had the hazardous material removed, at a cost of R245m.
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