Question NW189 to the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation
25 May 2020 - NW189
Graham, Ms SJ to ask the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation
Whether, with reference to her reply to question 859 on 22 October 2019, her department secured the services of an independent assessor to do a dam safety evaluation on the Nqweba Dam; if not, what are the time frames for the envisaged evaluation; if so, (a) what are the findings of the assessor, (b) will her department take immediate steps on the findings of the assessor and (c) will there be a budget allocation for repairs and/or rehabilitation if such form part of the recommendations?
Reply:
(a) The process of appointing an independent expert has not yet been finalised. The timeframe envisaged for procurement of services of an independent expert for the dam assessment is June 2020. The Honorable Member would also appreciate that the said date was envisioned before the breakout of COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown which slowed down our work a bit.
(b) With all work done under the Dam Rehabilitation Programme, a risk based approach is utilised to determine how urgently a particular action should be taken. This information will be contained in the report from the independent expert. Therefore, based on the findings from the independent expert report, the DWS will endeavour to comply with the recommendations.
(c) The required funds will be allocated through our normal budgeting processes once the independent expert report outlines the extent of scope. Should the recommendations deem the rehabilitation of Nqweba Dam to be urgent, then an emergency protocol will be initiated in consultation with National Treasury.