Cape Town - The Mayor of Cape Town on Wednesday said she was pleased with the progress made on a number of infrastructure projects which form part of a R20 million bid to upgrade some of the city’s poorest communities.
Mayor Patricia de Lille said that as part of her administration’s commitment to creating a caring city through redress, council had two years ago made an allocation for special redress projects.
“I commissioned a study to identify areas of poverty which required special interventions to address infrastructure backlogs over and above ward allocation funding,” De Lille said. “The study identified a number of areas, including Macassar, Bellville South, Phola Park, Scottsdene, Wallacedene, Elsies River, Belhar, Delft and Valhalla Park.”
A budget of R20 million had been allocated to various road and pathway upgrades as special redress projects that the mayor said she would initiate in some of the poorest wards in the city. The funds were allocated to Transport for Cape Town to implement visible infrastructure projects.
“A number of the projects are currently underway and I am pleased to see the progress being made in some of our most vulnerable and poorer communities,” De Lille said during a visit to some of the projects.
“I visited the site of one of the Mayor’s Redress Projects in Macassar where R8 million has been allocated for a number of walkways and cycle ways, along with various other road upgrades in the area,” she said. “These footpaths and cycle ways will improve the surroundings of these communities which previously had little to no investment in terms of social amenities and infrastructure.
“In addition, in Phola Park, investment worth approximately R6 million will see the closure of a badly degraded stormwater channel as well as the installation of paved footways and the planting of trees to enhance public spaces and paths.”
In Scottsdene, various upgrades to and resurfacing of badly deteriorated roads had been done at a cost of around R5 million.
“In Kalksteenfontein and Elsies River, R500 000 has been allocated for surfacing sidewalks, which will improve the stormwater operations and provide safer walkways for pedestrians,” she added. “These same upgrades will also be done in Wallacedene for R500 000, Bellville South and Belhar for R500,000, and Delft and Valhalla Park where R500,000 has been allocated.”
De Lille said that the projects would also create 110 work opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme.
“We are doing all we can with limited resources and remain committed to correcting the wrongs of the past through our programme of redress by providing our communities with quality roads, infrastructure and public spaces,” she said. “We will continue to invest in our communities and do all we can to improve surroundings and deliver projects to benefit our residents.”
ANA