Pretoria- More than 8 000 poor families in the North West Province will benefit from a new road maintenance programme said Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele.
The programme, titled Itirele (Do it yourself), will employ people from poor households in an effort to alleviate poverty and create sustainable livelihoods.
The programme will be rolled out across the province this month, specifically targeting households headed by women in the rural areas which have been identified in the four districts of the province.
Approximately R60 million has been budgeted for the programme and beneficiaries are poised to earn at least R520 a month for working eight days on identified roads.
"We want to commend the North West provincial government on the launch of the Itirele road maintenance programme which will benefit more than 8 000 households from the poorest of the poor. More could be achieved if we employed such programmes throughout the country in order to ensure that the jobs we create are long-term and target disadvantaged households," said Ndebele.
Work on the roads of a distance of 500 metres and one kilometre stretch will include; regular maintenance of the drainage system, felling of over grown trees branches which will obstruct clear view of the road ahead, clearing verges of the road off litter and weeds and where possible, do minor road surface repairs and fix potholes.
"As part of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) 2010 MTEF allocation, more than R8 billion has been targeted for roads development. Through the EPWP we will contribute to job creation through the implementation of labour intensive road projects. The national Department of Transport remains committed to supporting and monitoring the implementation of these programmes by provinces," added Ndebele.
