KwaDukuza Home Affairs upgrade back on track after years of delays
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson says the project, which stalled after contractors abandoned the site, is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
After years of delays, a construction project to complete the refurbishment of KwaDukuza's Home Affairs office is set to begin soon.
That is according to Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson.
Tender finally awarded
The project has been stalled for years after contractors abandoned the site.
Macpherson says a tender has now been awarded to get the job moving again.
He is confident the project will wrap up before the end of the year.
The minister spoke to journalists on the sidelines of an oversight visit to the Howick Police Station on Friday.
“We will be relaunching the Home Affairs office in Stanger that has also been delayed for the longest amount of time. And that's because we have got to get our projects back on track.”
Tender process scrapped
At the same time, the minister says an opportunity to generate billions in investments on the abandoned police barracks building in the Durban CBD has been missed.
The building has been standing empty for years.
The building near the old drive-in site was in the past used to house hundreds of police officers who worked in Durban.
Macpherson says the department took the building under its wing after he gave KZN police time to decide whether they wanted to use the barracks.
He says he turned to the private sector to refurbish the property, but that due to not meeting some requirements, National Treasury scrapped the tender process.
Macpherson says a lot of jobs would have been created under the project.
“It was going to be a R4 billion project financed by the private sector to redevelop that into apartments, shopping centres. It was incredible what was envisaged there.”
But the minister says he will not back down until the planned project is realised.
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