EThekwini Municipality, RUBIQ and the Durban chamber of commerce and industry (DCCI) held a meeting in Pinetown, on 17 August to discuss the progress of the Western Aqueduct Project.
The Western Aqueduct is the single largest water supply infrastructure project started by eThekwini city council for future water supply in the western municipality areas.
Bhavna Soni, Deputy Head of Engineering Services at eThekwini Municipality made a presentation underlining present and future plans for the project and its purpose.
“The meeting is to inform businesses in the western region about the purpose of the flagship project, the current status and when we are planning to complete it,” said Soni.
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Merging community members and government officials, the meeting also tabled some of the concerns that caused its delay in the previous years. One of the Phoenix residents voiced concerns over the poor welding skills of the contractors caring out the project.
“The project was delayed and the contractors did cause a problem. All the work had to be rehabilitated which caused an 18-month delay in the pipeline,” said Soni.
With close to 73km of welded steel pipelines to run along existing municipal roads through Umlaas Road, Ntuzuma, Pinetown and Tshelimnyama, the project has resumed operations.
As it opens business opportunities through tenders, RUBIQ managing director Peter Streng said their presence was to help the businesses of all sizes as part of their service to the community.
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“We are the voice of business, we listen to all the issues that are raised, discuss and resolve them. Otherwise, the chamber would then approach the authorities whether at local, provincial or national level and intercede on behalf of business,” Said Streng.
In addition, Soni said they were expecting another Japanese funded project that would specialise in purifying sea and sewage water to the country’s standard of drinking water.
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