training opportunities for EPWP beneficiaries
22 May 2007
More and more Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) beneficiaries in the
North West continue to benefit from the programme's exit opportunities courtesy
of the Provincial Public Works Department.
The Department is currently engaging the Mafikeng Local Municipality and the
contractor of the R8 million Provincial Legislature Public Parking Extension
Project in Mmabatho to identify EPWP beneficiaries trained in labour intensive
construction methods to form the project's workforce.
The department has insisted on the involvement of some of the fifty-five
(55) EPWP beneficiaries who were engaged in the R6 million Ga-Rona Provincial
Government Precinct Landscaping Project as an exit strategy in ongoing efforts
to upscale the scope and impact of the programme.
During the implementation of the landscaping project, beneficiaries acquired
skills in welding, landscaping maintenance, paving and tiling.
As part of the project's exit plan, the contractor is to stay on site for a
period of three months, for further training of beneficiaries, so that they
would eventually take over the maintenance of the surroundings at Ga-Rona
Provincial Government Precinct for a further nine months.
The extension of the public parking project at the Legislature requires
beneficiaries who have been trained and are skilled in welding and paving.
Ten (10) beneficiaries who have received extensive training in welding are
to be involved in the Public Parking Extension Project. More beneficiaries are
still to be recruited for the four-month project, which is aimed at enhancing
and adding visual value to Mmabatho Central Business District and the
Provincial Government Buildings and Legislature surroundings.
EPWP was launched in 2004 in the province to create employment and provide
training by encouraging labour intensive practices in the construction, repair
and maintenance of public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and
buildings.
Meanwhile, the Department has allocated a budget of R14,5 million for
community empowerment in the 2007/08 financial year. In announcing the
allocation in his Departmental Budget Vote Speech, MEC Howard Yawa said, "The
Community based programme revolves around job creation, support for small
medium and micro enterprise development, human development through skills
transfer, redressing uneven development, monitoring and evaluation."
Enquiries:
Lesiba Moses Kgwele
Departmental Spokesperson
Tel: 018 387 2447
Fax: 018 387 2868
Cell: 083 629 1987
E-mail: LKgwele@nwpg.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Public Works, North West Provincial
Government
22 May 2007
