Residents from Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, and surrounding areas will now have access to a basket of municipal services following the opening of the long-awaited Thusong Centre in NU 8.
The customer services facility inside the Thusong Centre has been operational since last month, a decade after the initial project was started.
Speaking at the official launch on Thursday, the Metro's Budget & Treasury head, Retief Odendaal said the initial budget for the project was in the region of R36 million, but that because of delays, capital expenditure on the project to date is R71 million.
"It must be highlighted that in terms of this project it's indicative of what can happen and what can go wrong. It highlights what happens when you don't conclude projects on time," he said.
Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor, Athol Trollip, said that in the coming months, the centre will offer all the services currently available at the Korsten and Uitenhage traffic departments.
"Because we only have one centre in Korsten and one in Uitenhage a lot of people are going to do their licences in nearby municipalities - namely testing, renewals and licences - and that is all revenue loss to us as a city. Also, people that live here feel that they have no access to proper service delivery. They get frustrated and they take their business elsewhere and we don't want that to happen," he said.
The Metro's Head of Safety and Security, John Best, announced that the centre will also be home to the Metro Police, making it the third satellite station in the Metro.
"This is the third precinct of the Metro Police, we are going have the safes installed next week and then the Metro Police third precinct will operate from here. They will use this as the reporting centre and will then go out and perform their duties under the instruction of the local Commander," he said.
The building fell victim to vandals during the 10 years it stood idle. However, Economic Development, Tourism & Agriculture head Andrew Whitfield said he was confident Motherwell residents would not vandalise the building now that it is operational.
"Once you open something to the community and it's actively populated with staff, who are performing important functions, the community responds and respects and protects that facility. If you complete a project and you leave the project it makes the community angry, it makes people frustrated, they don't have access. Now it's open to the public and all of the additional services, that have been spoken about, will be added over the next few months to make sure that there is a comprehensive basket of services," Whitfield said.
