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Ward 3 February Report

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www.MyPE.co.za: To see how hard working Ward Councillors go about their jobs, see Ward 3 councillor, Andre Goosen’s report below.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOURISM & AGRICULTURE

  1. The presentation was made on the construction incubator which is funded by the NMBM and is there to create sustainable companies and jobs. It should last at least 3 years. These contractors are trained in all aspects on building & construction as well as tendering etc. The presenter pointed out some companies fail due to their inability to evaluate the time of the project. The incubator is also encouraging women in construction and they use mentors for all the attendees. There are various grades of contractors; grade 3 gets in work at about R3 million pa. Grade 5 has many more contracts.
  2. A detailed report was presented on the SMME business hub at Motherwell. There have been financial contributions of R7 million from the Mining Forum. Budget & Treasury will have to assist MURP with a funding model. MURP is expecting a third fixed allocation from the EU for Local Economic Development. EU programme will come to an end in 2013. A Social facilitator will be appointed to co-ordinate processes of consultation and communication of the project with the community. The original budget for 2010 / 11 was R7.2 million but this has now been revised to R6.542 million and of this only R567 178 has been spent to date. This project will be a very beautiful and effective business hub for the SMME in Motherwell.
  3. The Automotive Career Development Programme (AECDP) is a programme to educate and mentor senior high schools learners with the aim of developing, nurturing and increasing the pool of black engineers and technologists specifically for the Automotive Industry. This programme was launched in 2005 in partnership between business and the municipality and has realised 6 successful years. In 2005 there were 30 learners in the programme and of these 17 studied further at NMMU and of these 6 received industrial bursaries. In 2008 there were 40 learners and of these 21 studied further at the NMMU and all of these received industrial bursaries. The committee has recommended that R500 000 be approved for each of the next 3 years.
  4. The film sector is currently worth R5.38 Billion and of this the NMB has lost being a major contributor. The Nelson Mandela Bay Film and music office was lunched to begin to claim a stake in this growing industry. To this end the NMBM will apply to host the Loeries Awards which is a Non Profit Association dedicated to recognizing, rewarding and fostering creative excellence. These Loeries Awards are sponsored by various corporations including Vodacom, SADPI, Azob, Mango, Curtis car hire and many more. In 2010 the Awards were held in Cape Town where R6.2 million was spent towards organizing the event. In 2010 the broadcast coverage was a total of R23,144 million. The NMBM is expected to invest an estimated amount of R2 million towards hosting this event.
  5. The committee was surprised to hear that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality does not have an existing official economic data base as this poses many challenges in developmental planning. The key objectives of the economic data base includes: Having an overview of the key demographic and socio-economic characteristics of NMB, To constantly monitor NMB economic potential and potential role sectors such as; Automotive, Capital built, Renewable energies, Agro processing, Business process, Trade & services and Tourism.
  6. There will be no cost to the NMBM and the committee recommended that the partnership between the NMBM and the Eastern Cape Socio Economic Consultant Council (ECSECC) be developed in order to gain access to the official economic data base.
  7. On the 22nd December 2010 NMB pristine beaches attracted the attention of International film makers who did a shoot for Citroen C3 television advertisement. One the city’s hotel accommodated 27 crew members from Cape Town and France and this led to about R37 837 being spent during that time.
  8. Last year Native Rhythms Productions (NRP) was commissioned by the NMBM to compose, produce and record a song in honour of the Mandela Day celebration, and the song “Mandela Day” featured Zonke, Lulu Tikala, Mxo Camagwini.
  9. From July to December 2010 the turn-over at the fresh produce market was R127 million. The major turnover was for potatoes which had a turnover of approximately R49 million and second was bananas with a turnover of R22.5 million.
  10. The Market expenses amounted to about R16 million and the income which is mainly due to market dues was budgeted for R14 million for the year and to date has an income of R7,445 million.
  11. In the report on Urban Agriculture they pointed out that a sweet potato project will be facilitated but that land has to be identified for this project. “Hydroponics” boxes land or existing venue has to be identified to host this sweet potato project. This feasibility study should be completed by July 2011.
  12. One of the main problems with Urban the Agriculture Sub-Directorate is that the officials lack the diverse skills required. It was recommended that the Directorate should consider setting up a pool of consultants for a relatively short period to assist the officials on their projects. It was also recommended that the relationship between Metro and other Government departments be formalized.
  13. Annexure E on page 191 on the agenda dealt with issues of strategic importance relating to Urban Agriculture and this can be read on the CD at the ward 3 office.
  14. There was also a detailed report from the Nelson Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA), Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism (NMBT). These as well as the service delivery and Budget Implementation Plan may be read on the CD at the Ward 3 office.
  15. The committee received a presentation on a development of the previous Rugby Stadium, Telkom Park / Happy Valley which is available on a hard copy at the ward 3 office.
  16. The committee supported the student racing vehicle project since this would lead to automotive Z technology and has agreed to support the programme with R120 000 each year for the next 3 years.
  17. There is also a Local Economic Development Strategy which can be read on the hard copy in Annexure C of the supplementary agenda at the ward 3 office

PUBLIC HEALTH

  1. A presentation was made by the Department of Environmental Affairs funded projects which was implemented by private companies. They spoke about a social responsibility programme to alleviate poverty. This involves the following: The coast, Waste, Wet lands and Parks.
  2. Expanded Public Works programme use government funds for these projects and of this 40% will be used for the social responsibility works programme which should create jobs of which 90% are temporary. They envisage that 50% of these will be women and unfortunately owing to the nature of the programme, number of jobs for disabled was reduced. They will be calling of proposals and advertise for implementers. Each project will have an advisory committee which involves the local community and each project will have a separate bank account. They are working on 3 transfer stations which will have palisade fencing and at present have created 1 985 job days which is short of the target of 35 727. The spending to date is R2.5 million and the Motherwell Cleaning projects have a budget of R6.65 million.
  3. Mr Chris Albertyn, a consultant, made a presentation on Air Pollution and Noise Control division air quality management plan. He stated that 3 public meetings have been held and that 7 air quality management stations have been formed. The NMBM is not in a position to implement the Act. Government has issued guidelines to indicate the air quality management plan into the IDP e.g. Major roads cannot be constructed without considering vehicle pollution etc. Landfill site emissions must be controlled as secondary reactions at the site could cause harmful gases to be expelled.
  4. At present our directorate has Mr Titima and 3 others to do Air Quality and Noise Pollution. The consultants said at least 12 that will be needed to implement the Act. In addition the Air Quality Management Plan must be reviewed periodically. The DEDEA will be funding this project.
  5. The committee has decided to have 2 workshops on the 17th of February to deal with illegal dumping and the control of stray animals.
  6. In the report on the working visit by delegates from water Gothenborg, Sweden to the NMBM in November 2010 it was reported that both parties agreed that the main focus areas will be: Development of the state of environment report (SoER), Development of a green / sustainable procurement implementation strategy and Implementation of the environmental management systems (EMS).
  7. These projects ran for 3 years and ended in 2010. In the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) the following issues were addressed in the action plan; a. Energy efficiency, b. Climate change, c. Waste Management, d. Water conservation, e. Bio diversity promotion, f. Transport efficiency, g. Responsible tourism, h. Awareness raising and i. Monitoring & measurements.
    In the review of the general health and safety specifications for the NMB to ensure safety at construction sites the following are the 6 steps involved: a. Client has to provide a health and safety specification, b. The contractor has to present to the client a health and safety plan, c. The contractor and the client will have to agree on the health and safety plan before the construction can commence, d. Any sub-contractor has to conform to the main health and safety plan requirement, e. The client will audit the contractor and any sub-contractor’s work to ensure compliance f. The contractor has to establish a health and safety file recording all documentations in compliance with the OHS Act.
  8. The Public Health Directorate has the following events; 15th of February – Health Lifestyle Awareness Week, 17 of February – Workshop on illegal dumping & Stray animals, 8th of March International Womens Day, 15th to 19 March – National Water Week , 24th March – World TB Day etc. This can be read on the CD at the ward 3 office.
  9. The objectives of the World Awareness Week are: To promote optimal health of all NMBM employees including Councillors, To create and raise awareness of the importance of health and wellness, To give employees and councillors the opportunity for medical assessments, To get an indication of the health risks of employees and councillors, To enhance the programmes of occupational health, safety & wellness sub-directorate, To inform employees and councillors where they can get help.
  10. In a flyer presented at the meeting the committee has recommended that the ritual cleansing in the official opening of the M17 bridge which is in between Enjoli Square and Motherwell be held since there had been many road accidents at this bridge. The committee recommended that the M17 bridge undergo a ritual cleansing and be officially opened by the NMBM.

INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING & ENERGY

  1. The Electricity & Energy Directorate made a report on the energy saving activities. They have issued an order for the further high pressure 50 solar water heaters.
  2. It is envisaged to provide 120 000 low pressure solar water heaters free of charge to the poor and indigent families. The project commenced in August and to date 13 700 units had been installed and approximately 150 people are employed on this project.
  3. The tenderer should shortly be appointed to supply 400 000 energy efficiency compact fluorescent lamps.
  4. The proposed tenderer should be appointed shortly to supply 9 400 energy efficient street lights fittings for the upgrade of major roads.
  5. The NMBM is in the process of acquiring 15 000 energy efficient street lights for the minor roads of the Metro.
  6. The geyser ripple project which controls geyser usage during high periods is saving the NMBM about R16 million p.a. on electricity costs. The NMBM will also offer to the residents of the NMBM, in conjunction with Eskom domestic heat pumps which will replace the solar water geyser and the officials have pointed out that this should save about 70% of the power usage for geysers.
  7. The Electricity & Energy Directorate is in the process of procuring the services of a “Community Based” service provider, which forms part of the IDP for the Electricity & Energy Directorate, to control technical and non technical losses of electricity which will address illegal or unauthorized connections, cable theft, customer education and socio-economic development aimed at poverty alleviation.
  8. The NMBM electricity usage is made up by 70% industrial, 17% commercial and 13% domestic. It is assumed that the industrial and commercial sectors will have very little non technical loss.
  9. The Regional Electricity Distributions (REDS) had been shown by National Government. This is partly due to the Local Governments are being unlikely to voluntary relinquish their constitutionally enshrined right to electricity distribution.
  10. The NMBM 38 MW Harrower Road open cycle gas turbine has been requested to supply electricity to Eskom.
  11. Due to the change of domestic to business installations the low voltage experienced from 163 to 193 Main Road, Walmer will require expenditure to overcome this low voltage problem.
  12. The over headline between the Lloyd Street and River Road will be moved to underground cables since lots of trees are causing problems with the overhead lines.
  13. Expenditure was also necessary to overcome low voltage condition in the portion of the 8th Avenue circuit.
  14. Since the security divisions cannot reply rapidly enough to alarm sub-station break-ins. The committee has approved a private scheme to employ contract security services to monitor these sub-stations.
  15. The technical sub-directorate has reported the following: HD/MB underground network: approximately 571 failures and approximately 47 damages
  16. Rural network: about 1149 failures and 16 damages. There were 496 notified shut downs and 137 unnotified shutdowns for the year.
  17. The project is to purchase 12 000 domestic meters for both new connections and the conversion of credit meters to pre-payments meters.
  18. Each year 200 business meters are converted to Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and a centralized AMR system is maintained.
  19. The executive director reported at the meeting that the dams were 34% full and the director, Water & Sanitation, reported that water is also been drawn from the small dams which at present are over flowing.
  20. The committee noted the following budget accounts: Roads and stormwater was reduced by R150 million, Water & Sanitation was reduced by R184 million. These were due to the cash flow crisi and naturally has negative consequences on service delivery.
  21. The find effluent from all of the Metros seven waste water treatment works comply with the general standards and authorization.
  22. Our drinking water compliance is well above of the SANS 241 requirements and thus the water introduced is safe for human consumption
  23. There are currently 56 plumbers working on water savings by repairing leaks at ATTP households. The plumbers average a minimum of 20 repairs per month.
  24. The directorate is investigating ground water sources to supplement our water supplies and the contract for desalination is ready provided funding is found.
  25. A strategy has been run to map the different pressure zones within the Municipal Network to facilitate the planning and reallocation of emergency water supply across the Metropolitan areas. The government’s exercise is to ensure that every zone has an alternate supplying of water.
  26. The committee has recommended that the Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP) be approved and submitted to the MEC Transport : Province of the Eastern Cape in terms of Section 36 (1) of the National Land Transport Act (5 of 2009).
  27. In the report on the tarring of gravel roads the officials reported that very few properly established sub-contractors rather than groups of persons that wish to become sub-contractors who have little business skills or experience and thus the project is slowed down. This elicited a very hot debate by some of the members of the committee since they stated that it was the intention of major contractors to educate the sub-contractors so that they can acquire the necessary business skills and experience.
  28. In order to reduce non-revenue water the officials recommended that the organogram be altered and that a water management officer shall be appointed. The committee, unwisely rejected this as they did not want this piece-meal alterations to the organograms since the organograms are being investigated. This investigation could take years and thus the water demand management will be left in abeyance.
  29. In the report on the capital budget as at 20th of December it was reported the following: Widening of Heugh Road from 3rd to 10th Avenue , will only be in the design phase for this year and work should start in the subsequent few years, The upgrading of the intersection at Main Road / William Moffett is in the tender evaluation stage and has an allocation of R3,184 million, Ward 3 does not feature in the planning for traffic calming measures this year.
  30. The development for traffic improvements in Walmer is an ongoing process.
  31. The committee has recommended that the Council should adopt the principle of the NMBM purchasing renewable energy from a generator within the NMBM geographical area at the Eskom tariff applicable to the NMBM. Together with other directorates a standard power purchase agreements Applicable to “General purchase of renewable energy” be approved.

BUDGET & TREASURY

  1. In the analysis of the operating revenue and expenditure for period July 2009 to December 2010 it was shown that R403 million was collected for property rates and this is 46.7% of the budget. Service charges amounted to R1,489 million and this is 49.6% of the budget. The total operating budget to date is R2,823 million which is 49,9% of the adjustments budget. The operating expenditure amounted to R2,678 million which leaves on operating surface of R144.6 million. This however is not fully represented in cash due to the accrual basis of accounting. The budgeted fine income was reduced by R29.4 million from R59.4 million in the approved budget to R30 million. Despite the reduction the actual collection fines was lower than the adjustment budget amount.
  2. The expenditure associated with the 2010 Soccer World Cup amounted to R31.5 million which was incurred during July & August 2010. No further related expenditure is anticipated.
  3. The actual capital budget spent was R725 million and the budget is R1,627 million. This represents a spending performance of 44.6% relating to the capital budget.
  4. The overdue consumer debts increased by R180.4 million from June to December and the most of this is due to water. The situation is not assisted by ATTP account-holders who are exceeding their water quota of 80 kl per month. This resulted in uncollectable arrears of R131.2 million which will be written off.
  5. Recently the NMBM received R43 million of the R93.8 million owed by the Provincial Department of Health.
  6. The Chief Financial Officer reported that the land sale monitorial has been lifted and areas have been highlighted and disposal will be done. He also mentioned that people are putting money into savings and not paying their debts to the Municipality. As at the 31st December 2010 the under collection was R61.1 million compared to the projected amount which will be collected from the municipal debtors.
  7. The target for creditor payments is 35 days and at present is approximately 37 days, based of the date of invoice.
  8. The decrease in the investments portfolio since June 2010 amounts to R326.9 million. The cash and investments amounted to R284.2 million as at the end of December 2010, compared to projected position of R349,3 million.
  9. In order to maintain the financial stability and liquidity of the Municipality the following strategies have been implemented: Operating & Capital Expenditure funded from the municipality’s own revenue sources have been reduced, Budget & Treasury will optimize all revenue streams, Increasing collection rate above the targeted percentage utilizing the credit control policy, Disposal of service plan in order to boost the depleted capital replacement reserve, No capital projects will be funded from the municipality’s own revenue sources until sufficient funds are available to cover the commitments.
  10. The key objectives of Cash Management will be: To maintain a minimum working capital level of at least R100 million per day, To build up an on-going working capital level of approximately R450 million, which will equate to a cost courage ratio of 1 month.
  11. Material variances for the month of December are as follows: R42.5 million over spending against capital predictions, R39.6 million delay in the receipt of the Provincial health subsidy, R12.4 million delayed in the receipt of a vat refund, R25.7 million under collection in service charges for the month of December, R24.8 million under spending against projections for operating expenditure, R17.1 million under cash projection for payment to Eskom as a result of penalties charged for excess demand being reversed.
  12. The projected cash balance as at 30th June 2011 has increased to R208,5 million mainly as a result of: R27.2 million reduction of the housing revolving fund to within the establish threshold of R100 million, R127 million reduction in capital for projects where funding had not yet been received, R35.8 million for VAT not previously claimed, R32 million adjustment to operating to accommodate unspent additional grants, R11 million additional funding received from FIFA for gate takings, R87.5 million grant funding received in December which was already provided for in the cash flow projections.
  13. The municipality has exhausted its loan capacity and will not take up any further loans for the next 2 financial years.
    The collection from debtors for December 2010 amounted to: 102.22% respectively, after write-offs have been taken into consideration, 94.56% respectively before write-offs have been taken into consideration.
  14. The average collection rate from 1 July to 31 December is: 92.03% after write-offs, 89.07% before write-offs.
  15. Personnel costs constituted 28.4% of the total operating income compared to the target of 34% for the financial year.
  16. The actual expenditure on repairs and maintenance is 5.4% of the total operating income to date and is below the target of 9%
  17. As at the end of December 2010 the municipality’s own revenue sources constituted 75.8% of its total operating income compared to a target of 88%.
  18. The auditor general office issued an unqualified opinion on the 2009 / 10 consolidated financial statements. This represents the third year in a row that the municipality has received an unqualified audit report.
  19. Approximately 10% of the water meter readings are estimates. Reason for this is that contractors had their routes changed and have to equate themselves with the positions of these meters in the new routes.
  20. Investigations throughout the wards have indicated that an additional 53 payment vending machine should be introduced.
  21. The property valuation appeal boards started in March 2010 and of the 726 appeals received 15 have not yet been finalized. The board still had to review 7 970 cases which had their valuations changed by about 10%.
  22. The CFO has pointed out that no date for the go-live of the new billing system can be set because they are still working on the system with Fujitsu who are re-Engineering the current technical product.
  23. The committee recommended that R546 million, R1,266 Billion and R1,041 Billion be written-off for October, November and December 2010 for those households who qualify for ATTP. Most of this is for water.
  24. The committee recommended that R8,813 million, R21.78 million and R21.194 billion be written-off for debts which are older than 90 days and thus irrecoverable in terms of the ATT Policy.
  25. Pre-payment electricity purchases will be limited on the monthly basis as from April 2011. The following method will be introduced: Domestic consumers may only purchase a maximum of 1,5 times the average consumption per month calculated over the last 6 months of electricity pre-payment purchases. Thereafter a R100 maximum purchase per day until the new month or on request to adjust the average by NMBM. New pre-payment meter installation will have a maximum of 500 kWh per week for estimated usage calculated by Electricity & Energy directorate. A similar set of conditions will apply to business consumers.
  26. Even though restriction washers have been installed it has been found that the majority of consumer house-holds, in arrears, as a result of over consumption that these washers do not have the desired outcome. Hence a “water management meter” which is an automatic water flow controller which allows a certain quantity of water to flow through the consumer water system every 24 hours and therefore controls the quantity of water used by a consumer e.g. for the ATTP house-holds which qualify for 8 kl of water per month will only be allowed to use 250 litres of water per day. There was some debate about this as Cllrs felt that public consultations should have carried up before this was implemented. It is envisaged that these “water management meters” will be installed through out the Metro.
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Ward 3

Ward 3 Councillor Andre Goosen Ward 3 covers the following area: Walmer, Greenshields Park, Walmer Heights, Park Drive from Doncaster Rd 1st Cape Rd up to Mill Park (east side) College Drive (Grey School) N.E. Mill Rd up to Hampton Rd. Tel: 041 586 2453 Cell: 083 405 0320 E-Mail: ward3[at]mandelametro.gov.za

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