By Thabo Mokgola

PROVINCIAL and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi will launch a centralised multi-billion rand funding system for the local government in Daveyton. The R15.6-billion Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) replaces all existing municipal capital grants.

These include the Consolidated Municipal Infrastructure Programme; Local Economic Development Fund; Water Services Project; Municipal Sports and Recreation Programme; the National Electrification Programme to local government and the Urban Transport Fund.

Spokesperson Xolani Xundu explained that the MIG placed municipalities at the centre of local economic development and delivery of municipal infrastructure. He added that it would drastically fast track the improvement of service delivery at local government level.

The grant is expected to also help government realise its goal to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014. "Through MIG, government would be able to pay a more focused attention to expanding access and improving quality of services in areas such as the provision of water, sanitation, roads, solid waste, community lighting and other community facilities," said Xundu.

The provision of these services and assets would be undertaken within the guidelines of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), whose primary focus is on labour intensive methods of construction.

Mufamadi said government's goal was to ensure that over 375 000 households benefited through the provision of clean water and basic sanitation this financial year. The MIG is geared at making the transfers to municipalities simpler, more certain and direct. "And its conditions are more flexible, designed to support the capital budgets of municipalities and to facilitate integrated planning," added Xundu. This financial year, R4.4-billion has been allocated to municipalities for basic services and infrastructure investment, increasing to R5.2-billion in the next financial year and to R6-billion in the 2006-07 financial year.
Source: -BuaNews

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