01 Sep 2016

Mayor of Selebi Phikwe, Mr Amogelang Mojuta, says Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) projects in the mining town are progressing well. 

Mr Mojuta said this during the recent the Selebi Phikwe Town Council full council meeting.

He said the projects included construction of 20 houses for teachers, 24 cubicles and four classrooms for pre-primary education.

However, he said the projects being undertaken were experiencing minimal challenges, which  included shortage of bricklayers and late delivery of some materials due to high demand of the commodities especially bricks and steel trusses.

He said so far all the projects, which had been budgeted for at roughly P21 million for 2016/2017 financial year were progressing well, ranging from 32 per cent for  superstructure brickwork to 71 per cent with regard to plastering.

He said 122 youth and 53 adults have been employed under the ESP projects to make a total of 175 jobs created for locals.  He said the cost of materials bought for the project so far stood  at just over P1,8 million  in which P982,871 from the total amount has been used to procure materials locally. This he said reflects that 54 per cent of the material cost has so far benefited local businesses. 

The Mayor indicated that the rehabilitation of Mekoro ward drainage system was ongoing and the project was currently at 59 per cent against the anticipated 65 per cent. He said the contractor encountered delays due to unreliable supply of materials from the supplier and technical challenges on site that required the redesigns of drift culverts.

He also said the construction of the culvert along Mowana Road was ongoing with the physical progress at 80 per cent. He said the contractor who had been hired to provide machinery for the project had completed his contract and the remaining works were being carried out by the Council in-house crew. Mr Mojuta further explained that the routine maintenance of internal roads which included patching and marking of roads was ongoing. 

He said shortage of resources such as transport and frequent breakdown of the plate compactor had delayed progress.

Regarding the illumination of the town, Mr Mojuta said the project was estimated at 71 per cent.  He said the council electrical team was addressing most of the faults experienced in the mining town.

“The recent completed Mekoro Ward streetlight reticulation project, which is under defects liability period is experiencing power outages and the contractor is on site replacing faulty underground cables,” he said.

He said the metering unit at Botshabelo which feeds Ditiro Road, Bophirima Road and Mosebudi Road was still pending replacement. He expressed concern that the council is still experiencing a number of vandalized streetlights.

He said that most of the streetlight control panel enclosers were vandalized and as a result electrical components were exposed to unfavourable weather conditions and unauthorized switching and theft of components like contactors and circuit breakers.

Mr Mojuta further indicated that government continued to support destitute persons through provision of shelter. He said the SPTC has been awarded P810 thousand to construct 10 houses for those in need. He said beneficiaries comprising seven from the Botshabelo North Extension area, two from the Botshabelo South Extension Area and one from Kagiso ward have been identified.  

He said four of the 10 houses have already been awarded in July 2016, whereas six houses will be awarded before the end of 2016. ENDS