Question NW424 to the Minister of Water and Sanitation
07 March 2024 - NW424
Myburgh, Mr NG to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
With reference to the negative impact of the lack of adequate water supplies to healthcare facilities on the delivery of healthcare services across the Republic, especially in towns in the Northern Cape where a recent additional R200 million allocation to the provincial Department of Health did not improve service delivery, what are the relevant details of the measures his department has taken to mitigate the devastation wreaked on healthcare by the lack of water services caused by poor governance of the facilities in places such as Kimberley and elsewhere in the Republic?
Reply:
a) The Sol Plaatje LM developed an emergency intervention to alleviate the water crisis for hospitals in Kimberley, over and above water infrastructure projects that are being implemented with funding from the Budget Facility for Infrastructure (BFI) funding program. The project is intended to improve water production at Riverton Water Treatment Works. It will be implemented in terms of the "Six Week Project Plan" to immediately deal with "quick-wins" which can improve production and reduce operational losses.
It should be noted that the key contributing factor to the water challenges being experienced in the Kimberly area is the raw water quality of the Vaal River, due to algal bloom. This has had a direct negative impact on purified water production. The municipality is currently supplementing water supply to hospitals and malls through water tankers, which fill-up the on-site water tanks of health facilities.
The Sol Plaatje LM has been experiencing substantial water supply and quality challenges from the Riverton supply on the Vaal River to their Newton Storage facility located towards the South of Kimberley. The bulk water supply system not only has capacity constraints in meeting the increasing water demands, but Sol Plaatje is having to contend with frequent supply disruptions caused by continued leaks/breakages and poor water quality. The leaks are experienced on the main pipeline from Riverton to Kimberley.
To address this, the Sol Plaatje Municipality submitted an application to the National Treasury for Bulk Funding Infrastructure (BFI) in 2021, with the aim of implementing much-needed upgrades to its ageing water supply infrastructure (bulk and reticulation). The objective is to restore, monitor and control water quality, water supply and non-revenue water to Sol Plaatje Municipality.
The overall Water Supply Intervention Plan has been developed with three key phases:
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INTERVENTIONS |
SCOPE |
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Planning and Emergency/Short Term Interventions (Phase 1: 9 months duration) (Phase 2: 11 months duration) Planned to commence in Sept 2023 Planned for completion by Jun 2025 |
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Medium Term Interventions (25 - month duration) Planned to commence in May 2024 Planned for completion by Jun 2026 |
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Long Term Interventions (40 - month duration) Planned to commence in Nov 2024 Planned for completion by March 2028 |
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