Jobs and water times three

Turning the sod to mark the official launch of three multi-million projects in the uMlalazi area are Councillor SG Ngema of uThungulu, uThungulu Exco member - Cllr T Mchunu , uThungulu District Mayor - BV Mthethwa, Cllr Ntanzi of Nyanini and uMlalazi Deputy Mayor - MET Magwaza

THREE major projects with a combined value of over R22-million were officially launched by the uThungulu District Municipality in the uMlalazi municipal area this week, providing much-needed jobs for about 150 local people.
At a turning of the sod ceremony for the projects, held at the Amakhosi Hall in eShowe on Wednesday, uThungulu District Mayor BV Mthethwa announced that local communities were set to benefit from the transfer of skills and on-the-job training that would be provided during the construction period.
According to uThungulu Public Relations Manager, Donna van Staden, two of the projects are to benefit the greater Mtunzini area.
They are the R15.4-million Mtunzini bulk water supply project and the new R4.1-million waste transfer station at Mtunzini.
The third project will ensure that 2700 people in the Nyanini area of eShowe will, for the first time in their lives, have access to drinking water.
In his address to residents who attended the sod-turning ceremony, Mayor Mthethwa said that the pace at which uThungulu was delivering services to communities within the district was proof that it deserved its status as one of the top-performing municipalities in the country.
‘I can confidently state that uThungulu is the number one district municipality in KZN when it comes to service delivery, second only to the eThekweni Metro,’ he said.
The Mtunzini Waste Transfer Station is being constructed by Africa Civils and Building Construction (Pty) Ltd based in Richards Bay and is scheduled for completion in May 2007.
Serving the uMlalazi municipal area, the station will cater for the storage of waste collected from Mtunzini, Gingindlovu and other neighbouring areas.
At weekly intervals, the full containers will be transported to uThungulu’s Empangeni regional solid waste site using a specialist sub-contractor.
Studies have indicated that about 750m³ of waste is being generated each month by the general population of these areas.
It is envisaged that the construction of the transfer station will curb the illegal disposal of garden refuse, building rubble and domestic waste.
It will operate seven days a week.

Welcome water
The Nyanini water project will provide water to approximately 2700 people in about 360 households by means of a 1.6km supply line and 6.7kms of reticulation piping at a total cost of R2.6-million.
The contract was awarded to Afropipelines based in Durban and the consulting civil engineers are Sivest.
The project is already 25% complete and is due for completion in March 2007.
It is employing 44 staff members: seven by Afropipeline and 37 (or 84% of the staff complement) being local labourers from the surrounding communities.
The R15-million Mtunzini Bulk Water Supply project is also well into construction and is scheduled for completion in May 2007.
The consultants on this project are DMV Richards Bay and the contractor is WK Construction of Durban.
The project entails a 2km extension of an 8km bulk water pipeline from Port Durnford to the Mtunzini reservoir to meet the needs of new infrastructure developments at Mtunzini.
The new 2km extension will cross the uMlalazi River using the existing railway bridge and will supply drinking water to the new Zini River Estate, which will have an estimated 3000 residents.
The project has created employment for 96 people, of which 30 are women and also incorporates the upgrading of the current water treatment plant at Mtunzini.