“The project is in its first phase. We are currently busy with the planting of grass, installing irrigation and the building of dressing rooms”
THE KAMIESBERG Municipality has denied neglecting the needs of residents when it embarked on a multimillion-rand sports field project.
This follows after the DA in the Northern Cape recently accused the municipality of wasting water and money on the project.
The DA pointed out that the area has been facing a prolonged drought, yet the municipality has undertaken a project to plant and irrigate a grass sports field.
“As the town of Kharkams cannot even supply residents with drinking water, it seems highly irresponsible to initiate the planting of a grass sports field, which in itself is a largely water-centric project, even more so given the recent heatwaves that the Province is experiencing,” the party said in a statement.
Municipal spokesperson Petro Williams admitted that the area is currently facing a water shortage but added that the municipality had plans in place to supply the residents with water.
“Kamiesberg Municipality is currently experiencing a water shortage. In fact, Kamiesberg was declared a water-scarce area, however, we have never neglected our communities and households and we ensure that they receive the necessary clean drinking water. We are also transporting water with a tanker to those areas that are struggling with water shortages on a daily basis,” said Williams.
He added that the project, which commenced on July 24, 2019, was progressing well.
“The project is in its first phase. We are currently busy with the planting of grass, installing irrigation and the building of dressing rooms. The total cost of the project over a six-month period is R4.8 million and the contract was awarded to Namaqualand Constructions,” Williams said.
He also lambasted claims that residents had to supply water for the project.
“We currently use borehole water, which is not suitable for use by households We also apologised to the community of Kharkams after it came to our attention that raw sewage water was used on the sports field for irrigation by the contractor assigned to the project.”
Williams added that the municipality had engaged with the contractor regarding the incident.
