14 Apr 2016

The city of Genk in Belgium has provided P28 000 to the  Monarch Ward Development Committee (WDC)  for construction of a state of the art playing grounds for  Monarch youth.

Monarch WDC chairperson, Rosinah Lekgaba  confirmed this in an interview with BOPA on Wednesday.

She noted that the city of Genk in Belgium has financed the project of constructing state of the art playing grounds for the youth of Monarch at the old Area two playgrounds adjacent to Legola Farms and the old Tati Mines.

Lekgaba said the play grounds will consist of a football, volleyball, netball and softball grounds all in one place and they estimate it to cost between P300 000 and P500 000.

She has admitted that the funds given by City of Genk were not enough to complete the whole project as many things were required.

Currently, she noted that the WDC is still in the process of acquiring quotations on the kind of fencing materials to use.

Furthermore, Lekgaba dismissed the idea of using a mashed wire fence out of fear of theft because the playing field will be located on the outskirts of Area two location, by the river banks, hence the fence would be susceptible to theft.

The committee, she said, very much fancied using the steel rail fence because it was strong and could last longer.

“We are still far off in terms of acquiring funds. The P28 000 we currently have cannot even fence the plot for this project as the steel rail fence is expensive to acquire,” She added.

On ways to raise funds for the project, Lekgaba noted that they have already started a raffle for the community which costs P20 to purchase and that the winners of the raffle will walk away with a goat, cellphone and a radio as main prizes .

Other ways to raise funds for the envisaged project including distribution of donation forms to members of the community.

Lekgaba further assured that the issue of squatter churches on the project’s plot has been duly addressed through communication with those churches in writing.

Fortunately, she said all churches squatting in their plot have agreed to vacate the said plot amicably to pave way for the intended developments and that only one church, whom the owner’s whereabouts are still being established is still on the plot pending proper communication with the church owners.

Should they fail to locate those churches’ owners, she said they will be left with no choice but to demolish the said church structure to continue with works on the plot.

On other issues, Lekgaba explained that they have written a letter to FCC requesting permission to be handed the Area eight recreational park.

She stated that the committee was of the view that the park could generate income for them through hiring it out to churches and for wedding and party events. ENDS