Trans-Caledon Tunnels Authority on Annual Report and Berg Water Project: briefing

Meeting report

LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
19 August 2003
TRANS-CALEDON TUNNELS AUTHORITY ON ANNUAL REPORT AND BERG WATER PROJECT: BRIEFING

Chairman: Reverend P Moatshe

Documents handed out:
Annual Report 2003 (offsite link)
Berg Water Project Presentation(57MB)
TCTA Website Address: www.metsi.com

SUMMARY
Chief Executive Officer of Trans-Caledon Tunnels Authority informed the Committee on its mission statement which covered projects on large dams such as the Lesothu Highlands Water Project and the Umgeni Water Project. TCTA formed co-operative partnerships with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and City of Cape Town (CCT). The Project Manager of TCTA discussed the Berg Water Project in Franschhoek Valley. Issues arising included cost of water to poor communities, relations with other Water Boards and representation on the TCTA Board.

MINUTES
Trans-Caledon Tunnels Authority Annual Report
Ms Van Rensburg (CEO of TCTA) said the purpose of TCTA was to keep the committee informed of its affairs, status and future liaison. The mission statement involved looking at large dams as bulk projects, including the Lesothu Highlands Water project, the Umgeni Water Project and most recently, the Berg Water Project. Ms Van Rensburg said that TCTA interacted with other water boards for support.

Regarding policy framework, she said that the Risk Management Philosophy was conservative in nature with a low risk management profile as their business involved long term projects, as well as taking into consideration what the community was left with at the end of the project.

Tariffing involved bankable projects that water users could afford, such as facilitating the repayment of debt with acceptable debt profile, economic life of assets and timing regarding future augmentation. Concerning funding, TCTA employed pro-active management for lowest costs, and ensured that there was sufficient access to funds so that money could be raised in the longer term.

With regard to project implementation philosophy, TCTA formed co-operative partnerships with the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) and City of Cape Town (CCT) for cost impact. Engineering involved performance technical reviews of planning design and maintaining a standard of quality for long term projects. They dealt with innovative processes and fast track investigation, especially with regard to geological conditions for certainty before entering large contracts and meeting time-lines. Ms van Rensburg explained that the private sector had been brought on board on a contract basis with some transfer of risk.

Ms Van Rensburg referred to the socio-environment, saying that TCTA complied with the conditions of the Environmental Impact Assessment and Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) Record of Decision, as well as applying lessons learnt from previous projects. TCTA endeavoured to implement effective public partnership programmes and maintain open channels of communication with stake-holders and other role-players.

Berg Water Project
Mr Johann Claassens (Project Manager of TCTA) said that the timing for the Project was good as the Western Cape needed an additional water supply. The Franschhoek Valley would serve as the site for the project. Water would then be delivered by the DWAF, sold to the City of Cape Town which would in turn generate income for TCTA. Mr Claassens referred to agreements with the DWAF and the CCT, with the DAWF accountable to the DEAT in terms of the Record of Decision. This was then delegated to the TCTA. He said that cost amounted to R1,45 billion, and that project housing and infrastructure would handed to local authorities once construction was complete.

Ms Van Rensburg added that water demand might decrease between 2015 and 2019, and to avoid capital costs increasing price, it would be that the price of water declines during that period.

Mr Claassen said that an Environmental Management Committee (EMC) had been established for advising, reviewing, recommending, endorsing and monitoring. The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) was a requirement in terms of the Record of Decision. He explained that strategies devised dealt with issues around training and employment, BEE targets set, education, health, safety and security, housing and infrastructure. DWAF projects included developments on the West Coast.

Ms Van Rensburg extended an invitation to the Committee to view the Lesothu Highlands Water Project and the Berg Water Project to see the remarkable achievements made.

Discussion
Reverend Chabaku (ANC) commented that the presentation was very detailed. Water was an essential commodity, and if people did not have money, they could not have water. Fluctuations resulted in that water was less available. How many people were represented on Committees within TCTA?

Mr Nyakane (UDM) referred to plans regarding the stress areas in terms of water supply. Would the decrease in cost referred to definitely occur or would changes influence this decrease?

Mr Windvoel (ANC) enquired what relations TCTA had with other reserves, including the Water Reserve Commission. How far could TCTA activity spread across the country? He enquired about the representation of women on the Board. He referred to the prevalence of black people within TCTA structures.

Ms Van Rensburg said that TCTA acted as a Government vehicle and risk managers in the water sector for the building of ultra-large dams. The Government needed to see in its budget an allocation for water service delivery. TCTA activity only took place where users could afford to pay for water and this was not part of Government budget. As far as interaction was concerned, Ms Van Rensburg explained that TCTA provided study guidance regarding research conducted. TCTA would use this research as a source of information for their projects. In relation to the Water Boards, TCTA played an interactive role in the delivery of water on the retail side of matters. Concerning representation, she pointed out that two other women served on the Board and that black engineers had been attracted as part of their efforts to promote transformation in the company. Ms Van Rensburg invited the Committee to interact with TCTA at any time either formally or informally.

The Chairperson commended TCTA on their close relations with the DWAF.

The meeting was adjourned.