MEDIA STATEMENT

ARRUP RECEIVES PRESTIGOUS SAICE AWARD

The people of KwaZulu-Natal are the ones who have emerged victorious when KZN Transport MEC, S'bu Ndebele's African Renaissance Roads Upgrading Programme (ARRUP) recently received recognition from the South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE) for Engineering Excellence in the category of Community-based Projects.

The award was presented in recognition of the department's distinguished and unparalleled contribution towards redressing past imbalances in the provision of rural road infrastructure. The award was for the St. Faiths project which extends from Highflats to Umtentweni near Port Shepstone on the KZN South Coast with a total length of 48 kilometres and a budget of R144 million.

ARRUP is by far the boldest roads initiative yet undertaken by the KZN Transport Department. The investment of R720 million over five years is possibly the biggest capital investment in rural infrastructure ever made by a provincial department.

This programme presents an opportunity for the department to provide a unique and integrated response to the challenge of community development and addressing the apartheid legacy. ARRUP creates opportunities for emerging contractors to become involved in higher order road construction, teaming emerging contractors with established firms, thus bringing huge opportunities for skills development and growth to the emerging contractor sector.

The programme partners newly established contractors with well-established consultants in joint venture partnerships in order to ensure skills transfer. Through opportunities and skills transfer, the programme intends fast tracking the development of previously disadvantaged contractors to a level where they are able to compete equitably.

Communities actively participate in the planning and implementation of the programme through their Project Liaison Committee (PLC). These represent stakeholders including Amakhosi (Traditional Leaders), local government, local business and other community interest groups. For at least three years ARRUP will ensure the circulation of vast amounts of money in the local rural economy.

Since 1994, under the leadership of MEC Ndebele, by and large the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport has performed well. Several of the department's achievements have received considerable acknowledgement by independent assessors. These include:

• The Gold, Silver and Best Practice Awards in the Premier's Batho Pele Good Governance Awards.
• Impumelelo also selected the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport as one of the top 300 affirmative action companies in South Africa. What makes this very special for our Department is the fact that we are the only provincial government department nation-wide that was acknowledged to have performed within the top 300 affirmative action companies.
• Impumelelo also awarded their coveted top prize to our "Zibambele" programme for the reduction of poverty and improvement in the quality of life of poor people.
• Our Participatory Educational Techniques (PET) Project for Road Safety was chosen as the best community youth project in the country by the Road Transport and Education Committee.

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