Ugu District's water access reaches 83% | Infrastructure news

Ugu District Municipality has reached a milestone with water provision within the district, increasing access to basic water to 83%.

In a statement released by the municipality it acknowledged there is still more work to be done in ensuring a 100% mark is reached more so in rural areas. The municipality claims it has made great water supply improvement in most localities within its area of jurisdiction.

Ugu’s current household services state that water access has heightened to 83.2% which can be translated to 149 273 households having access to piped water either inside dwelling units or yards or community standpipes.

“The Municipality guided by the national directive embedded in the National Development Plan which visions the transformation of the country by 2030 has ensured targets of its core service delivery functions of water and sanitation are reached.”

According to the municipality it is simultaneously hard at work to ensure that set targets for sanitation services are also met. The Municipality’s sanitation services have reached 89.1% which translates to 159 830 households with access to sanitation services in the form of Ventilated Pit Latrines, water borne sewerage systems and chemical toilets.

Towards advancing water access, the municipality has implemented numerous multimillion rand water projects within the district. “The municipality is currently involved with construction of reservoirs, installations of new pipelines, refurbishments of existing pipelines and refurbishments of water treatment works.”

Water projects underway

The Ugu Mayor, Councillor Ntombifikile Gumede in May 2014 announced that the Municipality had set aside an amount of R245 Million under the Municipal Infrastructure Grant for water and sanitation infrastructure programme.

Major water projects under implementation are the KwaNyuswa Water Scheme Phase 3, Thoyane Water Supply Scheme Phase 4 and 7, Ugu Water Pipeline Replacement, Msikaba Water Supply Scheme Phase 2 and 3, Umzinto Slums Clearance, Gamalakhe Bulk Water Supply Project and Bhobhoyi Murchison Bulk Water Upgrade amongst others.

“Our goal is to eradicate the rural water supply backlogs through the installation of new water infrastructure and other upgrades to meet the current water demand and also eliminate water interruptions caused by aged infrastructure,” said Gumede.

The municipality is also reaching the final stages of implementation for the Mhlabatshane Bulk Water Supply Scheme designed to fully supply Umzumbe and Hibiscus Coast Municipalities.

 

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