Clean green vision for BCM

Mayor Alfred Mtsi has pushed BCM further toward healing and growth.

Mtsi oversaw the release of the results of the metro growth and development strategy summit (MGDS) at the metro’s interaction with about 100 of the city’s external stakeholders at the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and budget forum in East London yesterday.

Mtsi said he wanted to see space created for the many super-talented metro citizens who had “good ideas on how to save the future of the city”.

The BCM coordinator of the MGDS, Abongile Dlani, listed five strategic outcomes of the summit and its workstreams to be pursued in the next five years:

l Creating an innovative and productive city focused on rapid and inclusive economic growth and falling unemployment;

lA green, clean, healthy, sustainable city “of subtropical gardens” that makes the best of its natural assets;

lA connected city with cheap, high-speed data links, and quality electricity and transport networks;

lA spatially integrated city that reconnects fragments after apartheid spatial planning. Production in township economies to be pumped up; and

lA well-governed, smart, responsive municipality that “delivers quality services and cost-effective infrastructure “without maladministration and political disruptions”.

Dlani presented the metro’s MGDS overview which puts officials to work building business confidence by supporting thriving sectors which in turn would lead to more growth and jobs.

The overview calls for quick decision-making when dealing with investors, and the development of partnerships with local universities and colleges that prioritise forging industrial skills among the youth.

Critically, it commits BCM to unlocking its “land parcels” to allow for development of enterprise industry and agriculture.

BCM has also committed itself to review its “high tariff structure”.

Dlani said the goals of the MGDS were adopted at the executive mayoral lekgotla held on November 16 to 18, which also proposed that they be reflected in the new IDP.

The depth of the metro’s problems were reflected in a talk on the “priority issues” presented by the acting manager of the IDP and performance management system, Nozuko Frans.

These issues were gleaned from the IDP, budget roadshow, mayoral imbizos and external stakeholders.

BCM has prioritised:

lFinding houses for the disabled and people who have been on the housing list for “more than 20 years”;

lBuilding new storm drains and maintaining existing drains;

lBuilding speed humps, tarring roads and building bridges;

lRegularly collecting refuse, sorting out illegal dumps and supplying wheelie bins;

lMeeting requests for water supply, replacing old pipes and repairing old and leaking taps;

lMeeting requests for toilets, cleaning materials for toilets, and completing half-built toilets;

lFixing faulty electrical poles and working on “illegal connections and high electricity tariff concerns”;

lFencing graveyards and maintaining the graders that dig graves;

lUpgrading and maintaining sport fields and rezoning land for fields; and

lBuilding or finding community halls and employing caretakers with a maintenance budget.

BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said stakeholders had made suggestions and offered advice, which would be listened to as “part of putting people first” and Mtsi’s desire to get back to basics.

Finance stakeholders said BCM by-laws were not enforced and informal settlements, churches and taxi ranks were mushrooming.

More traffic officers were needed.

The roads group called for regular inspections, electrification of all informal settlements, faster processing of land acquisitions and more bulk infrastructure for human settlements.

The socio-economic cluster led by Mtsi called for linkages to rural development with manufacturing plants to supply the urban areas.

It called for the establishment of an investment council and the revival of the metro agricultural forum.

Ngesi said: “All of this will be included in our plans.”