Durban- THE eThekwini Municipality will have to return the money allocated for the building of an 1860 Indentured Labourers Monument to the KwaZulu-Natal Office of The Premier.
This comes after the province found the city did not act fast enough to see the project through.
In March 2015, the municipality was allocated R4 685 000 for the monument, which was to be built along the South Beach, on the Esplanade.
However, since receiving the funding, nothing materialised.
A report tabled at the eThekwini executive council meeting (exco) yesterday (Tuesday) said the city would return the remaining R4 416 074 to the province.
It further stated that the funds would be given back as a matter of urgency, so the premier’s office could implement the project in their own way.
In addition, the MoU (memorandum of understanding), which was signed by the Office of the Premier and the eThekwini Municipality, in 2015, would be cancelled and declared null and void.
The project started in 2010, when South Africa commemorated the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indian indentured labourers to South Africa.
The aim was to recognise the role played by the community in the country.
The municipality set aside a site, along South Beach, where the monument would be built.
An organising committee was formed.
It included Seelan Achary, of the Shri Mariammen Temple, in Mount Edgecombe, businessman and philanthropist Ishwar Ramlutchman and representatives from the municipality and the premier’s office.
The municipality was to use their own internal supply chain management policies and procedures to erect the monument.
The committee was offered an opportunity to manage the process, which they declined.
This would have meant all the funds would be transferred to the 1860 Indentured Indian Monument Committee, for it to implement the project.
According to the report, in September 2015 the architectural department appointed Ruben Reddy Architects to supervise the implementation of the project until its completion.
Artists were invited to submit their ideas as to what the monument should look like, but it was rejected by the committee.
They felt the submissions did not reflect the indentured labourer.
This caused further delays.
The only seemingly tangible inroad to the project was a sod-turning ceremony at the site, in 2016.