Minister satisfied with community projects |09 September 2020
Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon has expressed her general satisfaction at a number of community projects under the portfolio of local government which she visited yesterday.
Minister Mondon visited 11 projects at Pointe Larue, Cascade, English River and Perseverance with the aim of assessing the progress of projects that are presently underway as well as to evaluate those that have been recently completed.
She was accompanied by a delegation consisting of the principal secretary for local government Marie-Celine Vidot-Jeannevole and the district administrators of the respective districts.
These local projects are some 130 projects that were set to be finalised and completed during this year.
The visit kicked off at the newly built playground and adjoining toilet facilities in Pointe Larue, which is expected to officially open for residents by next week. Contracted to Everest Construction and Quinjing International, the playground was completed in July 2020 at a cost of R300,000.
“It is important to think of our young generation – it will be a place for them to come together to play, a place for them to relax and interact together to learn some good habits,” noted PS Vidot-Jeannevole.
This was followed by the delegation’s inspection of the Pointe Larue playing field where new fencing, seating facilities, toilets and changing room have been constructed. The contractor for the R1.2 million project was Quinjing International.
Meanwhile in Cascade the ministerial delegation visited the road diversion project near the district administration office which is still in progress and the site for the new Cascade community centre, expected to be situated behind the district administration office. The road is being diverted to make way for the community centre.
Also in Cascade, Minister Mondon viewed phase 2 of the Talbot road project undertaken by local construction company WER Construction for R141,000. Completed since February, the road now provides motorable access to the homes of 20 families in upper Cascade.
“The Talbot project is a remarkable one because the families that live there were in dire need of a road access to construct their houses, and we are proud to have been able to facilitate this,” said PS Vidot-Jeannevole.
In the English River sub-district of Ma Joie, Minister Mondon visited the construction of a turning area and railing near the Leon family (R145,000) and the construction of motorable access, steps and carpark facilities in Semen Korsol valued at R301, 000.
The visit concluded on Ile Perseverance at a court (R876,000) and a playground area in Perseverance 1 as well as a court (R335,000) and playground in Perseverance 2.
Both playgrounds are in progress and are expected to cost around R300,000.
PS Vidot-Jeannevole however expressed her dismay at the acts of vandalism observed on the court at Perseverance 1 and noted that the estate residents should take ownership of these facilities and take better care of them.
On her part, Minister Mondon said: “The majority of the projects are satisfactory; some are quite ahead in construction although a few have a lot of work left. However, overall I am satisfied with the projects.
“We have been able to complete a lot of projects lined up for this year even with the various delays and challenges we get such as wayleave issues which remains a problem,” said Minister Mondon while also thanking the persons and families who were amenable and cooperative in regards to wayleave.
“Throughout our visit we have observed some projects that need adjustments which the project officers will have to work on. This includes the basketball court in Perseverance 2 since we feel that the sitting area could be extended to accommodate more people, given the size of district,” the minister said.
This year the department for local government has been allocated a budget of R30 million for the development of its small projects…
“The projects were developed taking into accounts the needs and aspirations of the residents in these communities. Our road projects provide motorable access closer to homes which benefit small children, the elderly and so on,” the minister noted.
“We also visited playgrounds that are in line with early childhood education projects […] while the two playing courts are geared towards the youths,” she said.
If everything goes according to plan the department of local government hopes to complete the majority of its projects by the end of October 2020.
The accompanying photos show some of the projects that Minister Mondon and her delegation visited yesterday.
Elsie Pointe
Photos by: Louis Toussaint
