By OBAKENG MAJE

The acting North West Premier, Nono Maloyi said the province has experienced unprecedented levels of development in the last 30 years, with the number of households increasing from 591 145 in 1996 to over 1.14 million in 2022. When delivering the State of the Province Address (SOPA), Maloyi revealed that, this depicts an upward trend of 88% of formal housing in the province.

He further said since 2019, the provincial government has built over 19 000 houses. Maloyi added that, in 2023 alone, over 2700 were handed over to beneficiaries.

“The focus will now be centered on eradicating mud houses. R198 million has been allocated to eradicate 1 356 mud houses in the province, with 579 of these units already delivered.

“Furthermore, efforts to eradicate mud houses have been strengthened by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the provincial government and the Chinese National Import and Export Corporation to build gas to electricity power stations in the province,” he said.

Maloyi said as part of their project investment, the Chinese have made a commitment to invest further resources to assist eradicate mud houses in the province by building 500 houses every year, for the duration of the project. He said the project is expected to create a minimum of over 10 000 jobs.

“Providing an update on the Deelpan Floods intervention programme, The provincial government has cleared all the hurdles that delayed the project and that 104 houses will be completed by end of March 2024.

“A further 317 houses will be built following the donation of land by Kgosi Kogodi Molete of Bakolobeng and his Traditional Council. In addition, the provincial government will be launching the R2.6 billion N14 mixed development project in Ventersdorp,” he said.

He said the development will see installation of bulk services for 4000 sites and create over 600 jobs for local people through the construction of Breaking New Ground, Social Housing and bonded stock. Maloyi said this is part of ongoing efforts by the provincial government to change the lives of the residents of North West and restore their dignity.

“The provincial government will continue to ramp up the title deeds restoration programme by handing over title deeds to rightful owners. To date 6 283 title deeds have been handed over to beneficiaries across the province,” he said.

taungdailynews@gmail.com