10 May 2017

North West District Council management has been urged to fast track the backlog infrastructure development projects so that they do not overlap to the next financial year.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen said this at a council leadership and senior officers meeting reently to appreciate the progress of projects and challenges faced by the council.

Mr Van Der Westhuizen said most councils used to have a serious backlog and that some projects were terminated while some overlapped to other financial years.

He appreciated efforts made by some councils, including the North West District Council, to reduce the backlog in the last financial year.

He noted that some councils were left with a small backlog for the 2016/17 financial year, and urged management to double their efforts to ensure they eradicate them.

Mr Van Der Westhuizen also advised management to focus on projects which affected the day to day life of communities, adding that they should not focus on new projects while leaving the old ones behind.

He urged the council to focus on municipal works such as housing, maintenance of internal roads, potholes, streetlights and management of waste and environment conservation.

The assistant minister noted that during the rainy season roads in residential areas became impassable due to floods, and advised that dry grading could be ideal to address the situation.

“Our ministry should make people happy because it is the people’s ministry, hence our motto which states that people first,” he added.

Earlier, the deputy council secretary, Mr Gobe Modongo informed the assistant minister that they have a number of projects outlined, adding that most were progressing well and that some were completed on time.

He noted that some of the projects included the construction of 100 houses under the Destitute Housing Programme for financial year 2016/17 of which 81 had been completed while the remaining 19 were at different stages and expected to be completed this month.

In addition, he said under the Presidential Housing Appeal, the district was allocated one house which was constructed at Beetsha in the Okavango District.

He said under the destitutes housing in Rural Area Development Programme (RADP) settlement, 21 houses were allocated for financial year 2015/16 and were completed while 34 out of 45 planned projects for 2016/17 were complete and that 11 houses were ongoing.

The assistant minister also learnt that backlog infrastructure development projects were completed.

He heard that all projects under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) were completed except for the construction of two customary courts at Samochima and Etsha which were 85 and 87 per cent complete respectively.

As for roads, Mr Modongo explained that 11 were planned for and that nine were completed while two were ongoing and at 82 per cent.

For his part, the newly elected council chairperson, Mr Duncan Enga informed the assistant minister that they experienced delays in some projects because of shortage of manpower and inadequate budget.

He said the ministry does not reserve budget for transport, adding that it affected their allocated budget.

He also stated that some officers were reluctant to work in the district hence the high vacancy rate, adding that he hoped the posts could be filled. ENDS