Supplied
The Kouga Municipality has unveiled its largest single investment infrastructure project to date, a R200 million road resealing and rehabilitation programme.
Executive mayor, Hattingh Bornman, says this ambitious initiative seeks to upgrade between 100km and 150km of roads across all nine Kouga municipal areas.
He says this will significantly improve mobility and safety for residents and businesses.
Bornman says an additional R40 million will be spent to tar gravel roads over the next two years.
"The project will benefit every town in the municipality, with roads prioritised based on technical analysis and ward councillor input," says Bornman.
He also added this project includes the resealing of several key roads in its initial phase, including Hoffman, Flamink, and Pelikaan Streets in Humansdorp, Du Plessis Street in Patensie, and Walsh Street in Hankey.
According to Bornman, the municipality inherited an R500 million road maintenance backlog in 2016.
"Through prudent financial management, our administration has been able to pay off municipal debts, secure clean audits, and now, secure the largest funding for a single project in Kouga's history."
He said patching the problem was never going to be enough because the challenges posed by increasing population demands and harsh weather conditions required decisive action. This R200 million loan from the DBSA marks a bold step forward in addressing these issues comprehensively.
Since June 2022, a total of 28.1km of roads at a cost of R43 million have been successfully resealed.
