By Tom Mapham
Municipal Reporter

OVER the next four months Buffalo city Municipality will resurface its worst roads, install new street lights and plant more trees.
In direct response to request made by residents at a series of Mayoral imbizos held last year, more than R18 million has been allocated to 10 projects proposed by Buffalo City Municipality’s(BMC) Executive Mayor Zintle Peter.
“In choosing these projects we looked for goals that would make an immediate difference in the lives of the critically poor and all our citizens alike,” said mayoral adviser, Peter King.
The largest amounts of money have been pledged to upgrading gravel roads (R4m) and “beautifying” Buffalo city (R3m).
BCM municipal manager Gaster Sharpley said the later project would include planting palm trees and cleaning up the main road entrances to Buffalo City.
“We will focus on the main corridors. The plan is to attract investors and to make citizens feel proud to live in Buffalo City,” said Sharpley.
All of the work would be implemented as soon as possible.
The other projects include cleaning up BCM’s three central business districts, upgrading Duncan Village’s public toilets and providing temporary services to the Second Creek community, whose inhuman living conditions on a rubbish dump have been the subject of national news.
Across the municipality, new street lights will be installed, illegal dumps will be cleared, and cemeteries will be cleaned.
Each of these projects has a budget of R1m.
One of the most expensive projects will be building steps to inaccessible low-cost houses in Nompumelelo (R3m).
“At last”, said Makhaya Bopi, the secretary of the residents’ association in that township, after his ward councilor informed him about the project.
“We have been battling for ages to get this sorted out,” he said.
Some new home-owners could not access their low-cost homes because the doors were up to three meters above the ground.
While some residents have built their own steps to their homes, Bopi said that he was very glad that the situation would be resolved for those who could not afford to build.
Yesterday, BCM’s development planning director, Craig Sam, said that construction of the steps would begin as soon as possible.
“It’s a case of do the worst first,” he said.
The resurfacing work will be done by BCM staff but local labour and equipment will also be hired.
“It will take about three months to complete the project, which will see at least 40 km of roads resurfaced.”
At an imbizo in November, Duncan Village residents’ questions focused on open spaces, housing, street lights and crime.
At that time, Peter asked the crowds to focus on her results, not her personality.
Yesterday, Gonubie ward committee member Rex Jordan said he hoped the suburb would benefit from some of the new street lights.