The City’s Water and Sanitation Department has increased security measures at the construction site, which will benefit the Cape Flats Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) project. The project resumed on Monday, 7 March 2022 at the Cape Flats Wastewater Treatment site, near Pelican Heights. Work was temporarily suspended since Wednesday, 2 March 2022 after security concerns in the area affected the safety of workers.
The City’s New Water Programme aims to bring more water online to ensure a safe, reliable supply for years to come through groundwater abstraction, desalination and water reuse, as well as optimising surface supply through clearing thirsty invasive alien vegetation. This programme forms part of the City of Cape Town Water Strategy: Our Shared Water Future. It aims to build resilience to the effects of climate change, and future droughts that are expected to be more frequent and severe, and to ensure a safe, reliable water supply for generations to come. The programme aims to produce approximately 300 million litres (Ml) per day through groundwater abstraction, desalination and water reuse by 2030.
The Cape Flats MAR project includes the construction of a Pre-Treatment facility that will treat treated effluent to a high standard and then pump that high quality water into the Cape Flats Aquifer. The construction phase of the civil part of this project is expected to be complete in 2024 and will support the City’s vision to create a water sensitive city.
Managed recharge means the City will fill up the aquifers where groundwater has been used, on an ongoing basis. Aquifers become an underground storage space, which is not affected by evaporation in the same way that dams are.
Recently contractors who are working on this project were affected by security concerns in the area, which temporarily impacted operations on site. The main contractor is currently being pressured to appoint subcontracting companies from external forums and outside of the agreed wards/ sub-council area. The individuals are using threats like, “police should be at your next meeting” and “dire consequences” if demands are not met. It is likely that these individuals have gang affiliations.
‘A decision was made to suspend the project operations until such a time that we can ensure the safety of contractors and City officials. Ongoing security assessments will be undertaken so that work on site can continue in a safe environment for staff and contractors. We cannot allow criminal actions to hamper progress, which ultimately in years to come aims to supplement our dam waters through recharging the Cape Flats aquifer.
‘Threats of violence against the City’s professional teams and infrastructure cannot continue. I call on residents who witness or know of potential incidents to report the information to the City’s public emergency call centre:
• 107 from a landline
• 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or call 112 for free, and ask for City of Cape Town’s public emergency call center.
‘Help us protect our City infrastructure by taking a stand against criminals set on damaging infrastructure necessary to ensure effective service delivery and dignified services in our city,’ said Councillor Zahid Badroodien, Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation.
Source: City Of Cape Town