Honourable Premier
MECs present here today
Executive Mayors and Mayors of Local Councils
Councillors
Dikgosi
CEOs of Water Boards
Departmental and other Government officials
Honoured guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
Bagaetso, Water is life, preserve it and it will preserve you, respect it and it will respect you and lastly enjoy it. I thank you for welcoming me to your District, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, where water is a source of life in this farming community. I also thank you for welcoming me to your province, Honourable Premier.
Water is a key component in determining the quality of our lives. Currently our communities have become relaxed about this miracle of life. Our natural heritage rivers and oceans have been exploited, mistreated and contaminated by inconsiderate people. So much so that today, treatment of water for drinking is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.
One of the strong messages we are sending out today is the need to: Respect it, Conserve it, and Enjoy it’ ’As most of the distinguished guests have alluded, water is life. We need to continue to save water for our future generations.
My department has also made an enormous commitment to ensuring safe water usage by creating awareness to our communities. It is also through gatherings like Water Month where we continue to create awareness about wise water usage Other Programmes that the department has committed itself on is the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) which supplements the financing for the development of Regional Bulk water infrastructure, Regional Bulk Sanitation Collection and Waste Water Treatment Works.
Ladies and Gentlement, today we are gathered in Pudumong, to celebrate Water Month and to also offer you answers to water provisioning challenges in your areas Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant - Taung/Naledi Bulk Water Supply.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Taung Dam has been a single purpose dam for a very long time and after thorough considerations, through funds allocated under the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) it is now going to be turn into a multipurpose dam. That means that the dam will supply clean water to Naledi and Greater Taung municipalities.
This project area is approximately 40 km south of Vryburg and 20 km north of Taung Station along the N18 road between Vryburg and Kimberley, will cover both the Greater Taung LM as well as the Naledi LM.
Areas to be supplied with water in Naledi Local Municipality are:
- Huhudi
- Vryburg
- Colridge
- Kismet Park
- Dryharts
In Greater Taung L.M the following areas will be supplied with water:
- Taung
- Depot
- Randstad
- Taung Village
- Itereleng
- Matolong
- Rooiwal
- Taung Station
- Pudimoe
- Mogopela
- Chokonyane
- Myra
These areas will be covered by the first phase and there are more areas to be covered in the phases to follow.
Bagaetsho, I had an opportunity to visit Taung Dam this morning and to do the Sod Turning for Phase 2C, which is the construction of a bulk pipeline to transport the total available domestic allocation of raw water from the Taung Dam to Pudimoe Water Treatment Works (WTW) as part of the regional bulk supply scheme.
Technical progress on Phase 2C
We appointed consultants to plan, design and supervise the construction of a bulk pipeline to transport the total available domestic allocation of raw water from the Taung Dam to Pudimoe Water Treatment Works (WTW) as part of the regional bulk supply scheme. These consultants have finalised their feasibility study on Phase 2C. After consultation with stakeholders the newly agreed upon alternative includes the construction of a 10 km pipeline between the Taung Dam and the new site for the Water Treatment Works in Taung.
The environmental impact assessment, geotechnical investigation and water use license application processes have been put into motion. Title deed enquiries of all the relevant properties have been obtained in order to establish ownership. A survey was conducted together with Eskom, Telkom and Sedibeng Water personnel, in order to determine the location of existing services within the proposed pipeline route.
The design phase has been concluded and construction by the Construction Unit West of the Regional Office: North West will commence in April 2012.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as I have already pointed out, the significance of this project is huge to the people of Taung, Naledi and Kagisano municipalities and has spinoffs in other areas of Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati district as well.
The Taung Dam has been lying unused for almost three decades when the local people and the adjacent areas have been suffering from lack of water.
Today, the dam will for first time supply water to the people for domestic use and in the long run enhance socio-economic development. Total water demand to be supplied from the Taung Dam is 16 Ml/day for Greater Taung and 17.3 Ml/day for Naledi LM. This bulk water supply scheme will augment the bulk water supply to settlements in the Naledi and Greater Taung municipalities.
The total population to be served by this project is 186,139 as per 2010 figures with a projected population of 217,429 by the year 2030.
The project has already given employment opportunities to 284 local people during this financial year and is envisaged to employ 270 more in the coming financial year. In the coming phases, we want to see more and more local entrepreneurs coming on board and enhancing the skills transfer and empower the local people.
Lastly, Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to reiterate that Taung has great potential of creating more water catchment areas. We already know that almost every ten years there are floods in this area. With climate change effects, these could increase and may have devastating effects. If we plan properly, we can prevent these floods by creating catchment areas and distributing the water for domestic, agricultural and other uses.
I thank you once again for welcoming me to your district and I want to highlight that my department together with the provincial government, municipalities, private sector, and civil society will continue to engage on water issues affecting different provinces.
I thank you.
