Parliament, Friday, 15 September 2023 – The Eastern Cape’s permanent delegates to the NCOP started day two of their week-long Provincial Week programme in the province by visiting selected projects that included road construction and water treatment projects in the OR Tambo, Alfred Nzo and Sarah Baartman district municipalities and in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality to assess progress regarding their developments.
Msikaba Bridge project which is part of the N2 Coastal projects in the OR Tambo District Municipality was part of the first projects which group one of the delegation visited. The bridge is a cable-stayed steel deck bridge, currently under construction. The bridge project aims to improve the travel time between Durban and East London for heavy freight vehicles.
The delegation heard that the project yields huge economic spin-offs to the nearby communities in many respects, above all, by provision of knowledge and experience in the field of civil engineering. That was confirmed by local leaders including the local chief and the Mayor of Ingquza Hill Local Municipality.
Briefing the delegation, the project managers said the construction work of the project is within the planned timeframe and quality work standard is maintained. The delegation heard that the bridge was benchmarked on a top class bridge that is in Canada and it is one of the best bridges among the local bridges that include Tsitsikama Bridge which is in the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape.
The delegation expressed its appreciation of the progress which has been made by the project management, particularly the harmonious cooperation between the project management and the communities surrounding it. The leader of the delegation, Ms Nokuzola Ndongeni, commended the project managers and community leaders for the progress that has been achieved so far. “It is not by luck that this project is where it is, but it is where it is because of your cooperation,” she said.
Group two visited upgrading of National Route R366 between Kirkwood and Addo, and Maintenance of the N2 Route Between Gamtoos and Van Stadens rivers. The project National Route R366 is in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, it comprises of 13,75 km of national route R366 between Kirkwood and Addo. The project’s total costs are R274 589 809.84 and R77 750 538.97 has already been spent.
The delegation called on the project managers to make every effort to ensure that the project is completed within the set time-frame to avoid cost-over-runs. The delegation also urged SANRAL to encourage more women, youth and disabled people in business to be involved in road construction projects.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE WHIP OF THE EASTERN CAPE’S DELEGATION TO THE NCOP, MS NOKUZOLA NDONGENI.
For media inquiries or interviews with the leader of the delegation, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Mr Mava Lukani (Mr)
Cell: 081 503 1840
Email: mlukani@parliament.gov.za
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