Africa: UThukela District Municipality strives to uplift the lives of the people by ensuring that human dignity is restored through service delivery to the communities. Chairperson for Infrastructure Portfolio Cllr Mthokozisi Khoza and his team introduced a contractor who will be undertaking the construction of precast VIP toilets at Burford Community Hall under Alfred Duma local municipality today.
This comes after an assessment that was conducted in terms of the challenges this community is facing. About 100 precast VIP toilets are set to be built in the area. The project will also create 50 temporary job opportunities for the locals. It is also expected to take up to nine months to complete, and about 100 households are expected to benefit from the project.
This project is a direct response to sanitation backlogs in the district. The contractor who will be undertaking this project (precast VIP toilets) is DLV Project Managers and Engineers (PTY) Ltd. When outlining the scope of work Mr Ria Segwati said these VIP toilets come with a ventilation system to help reduce odour.
According to the specifications presented, at least a 1.2m hole will be dug before the toilet is installed to ensure that it does not need to be deluged on a daily basis. It can take more than a year before a VIP toilet needs to be dislodged, depending on how many people live in that household. These concrete slap structures will also provide dignity and improve the lives of the communities.
The community of Burford welcomed and appreciated the project and work done by the uThukela District. “It is essential that we provide our community with dignified basic services through the infrastructure of water and sanitation. There are water projects that are in the pipeline for this community that include fixing existing boreholes and protecting springs”, said Cllr. Khoza.
Cllr Khoza said it is disheartening when you have done this much for the community, and some people just come and steal or sometimes vandalize the infrastructure. There are allegations of cable theft and water tank in the area. He then urged the community of Ward 14 to take care of their infrastructure and not to vandalize it.