MEDIA ALERT

MEC BHEKI CELE TO CONDUCT A SOD TURNING CEREMONY OF OKHULA RIVER BRIDGE
SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER 2005- P568 EMACEKANE, NEXT TO TYCO AT 9AM

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport Community, Safety and Liaison Mr Bheki Cele will conduct a sod turning ceremony of the Okhula river bridge at Emacekane near Empangeni on Saturday 22 October 2005; this follows an outcry from members of the community requesting the department to build a river bridge after years of suffering.

The bridge will cost approximately R3 million and its construction will be completed in a period of six months. The road serves three of the Amakhosi areas (Emacekena or Somopho, Obizo, Mambuka) and 8 schools with an estimated population of 20 000 who cannot access basic services.

Since there are no clinics and hospitals in the area local people rely on services around Empangeni and Richards Bay; therefore if the river is flooded the community cannot go to Hospitals and clinics. The local farmers and cane growers cannot take their produce to the market.

Since KwaZulu-Natal department of Transport commenced constructing pedestrian bridges at river crossing some five years ago there has been a demand for such structures from numerous communities. The department has also realised that better transport systems can link up rural and urban areas as well as Southern Africa as a whole and at the same time contribute broadly to economic development and social upliftment.

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