Engineering News - 2004/05/26

Government says it has finalised guidelines for the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) with which it seeks to ensure job creation and skills development to benefit the unemployed masses.

Delivering his State of the Nation address on Friday, President Thabo Mbeki said government would ensure it launched the EPWP in all provinces by the beginning of September.

The EPWP is government's programme aimed at addressing the backlog of infrastructure development in the country, by using labour intensive methods. President Mbeki said the programme would concentrate on the 21 urban and rural nodal areas identified as needing urgent development.

The nodal areas have already been identified in terms of the Urban Renewal and Integrated and Sustainable Rural Development Programmes that seek to develop into economically viable centres, areas that have deteriorated throughout the years.

Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi said in Parliament today the guidelines showed that the success of the EPWP would depend on the partnership between government, labour, business and civil society.

The minister said this would also depend on co-operation between the three spheres of government and various departments.

Government has also allocated R45-billion over the next five years for municipal and provincial infrastructure grants of which R15-billion would go to the EPWP.

The grant would assist government in creating at least 1 million job opportunities, said Mufamadi.

"A substantial amount of this allocation will find its way into the 21 rural and urban nodes and will accelerate the implementation of these programmes," said minister Mufamadi said.

President Thabo Mbeki launched the EPWP in Giyani last week and it is also in line with resolutions of the job summit that was held in Johannesburg in July last year.

The minister added that the EPWP's success would depend on the active role of Sector Education and Training Authorities, ability and capacity to spend capital works allocation particularly for infrastructure development and effectiveness of the programmes driving unit.

The minister added that the R15-billion Municipal Infrastructure Grant, to be officially launched next month would accelerate the implementation of the EPWP.

"Our emphasis on infrastructure, particularly at the local sphere of government has to do with two critical areas, the provision of basic services to our people and the commitment of government to create conditions for sustainable local economic development," Mufamadi said.

Government has spent R5,9-billion in rural nodes and R4,2-billion in the urban nodes in the past financial year. -BuaNews