The Provincial Minister of Infrastructure ended his Weskus tour on Tuesday with the official opening of Freeport Saldanha’s new road.
Tertius Simmers started his visit in Lutzville with a community-engagement session. At the session on Sunday residents received feedback on the Lutzville housing project.
The minister also visited Citrusdal, which was one of the areas hardest hit during the recent floods in June. The floods caused major damage to the access road to the town, the R303, with part of the road that was swept away by the water.
Since then his department, along with the West Coast District Municipality, worked to ensure access to and from the town through the road rehabilitation and repair project.
“Above all, I want to thank the agriculture sector as well as the local community for playing their part to help us repair the road in record time,” Simmers said during his visit.
According to Ruben Richards, Mayor of the Cederberg, the speed with which the road was built and repaired is testament to what teamwork can achieve.
In Saldanha Simmers officially opened a new road connecting the OP599, next to the Transnet train track, on Tuesday. This road will give those working with the Saldanha Freeport easier access to the transport routes, including the R27.
“These projects all form part of the greater provincial infrastructure framework 2050,” Simmer told Weslander. “Along with setting up the necessary infrastructure for the developments to come this project has also lead to the empowering of locals through skills development.”
He urged that developments such as the establishment of the Green Hydrogen corridor and hub can be a driving force for economic development.
This means the infrastructure necessary to support these developments, should be put in place.
On Tuesday Simmers ended his day in Malmesbury at the sod turning for the biggest infrastructure project within the Swartland municipal area.
The R535 million road project will eventually connect with the Freeport Saldanha (formerly the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone).
