Uitenhage youth can tap into eco-hubs project

[caption id="attachment_38280" align="alignright" width="150"] PATRICIA DLAMINI[/caption]

YOUNG people in Uitenhage will soon benefit from poverty alleviation projects by the Nelson Mandela Bay development entity, the Uitenhage-Despatch Development Initiative (UDDI), in a bid to fight youth unemployment in the town.

Speaking at a business breakfast yesterday, UDDI chief executive Patricia Dlamini presented the agency's plan to get more young people involved in projects that would boost economic activity in the town.

Speaking after her presentation at the Nelson Mandela Bay Science and Technology Centre in Uitenhage, Dlamini said: "We have programmes that are specifically focused on developing the youth, focusing on set-ups.

"First and foremost is our start-up. Our enterprise development unit will help companies that have already been started by young people and help them to grow through an incubation programme that we'll establish; a multi-centre incubator.

"On agriculture, our eco-hubs projects have changed the way we operate, so the people who operate become owners of the project."

Eco-hubs are community-based projects that transform illegal dumpsites in townships into workable vegetable production clusters using natural and waste resources, Dlamini said.

"We'll increase their ability to tap into markets because if every township or every ward had a hub, they could have the volumes the fresh produce markets require.

UDDI project manager Wandisile Makwabe said they had received R1.8-million for the project from the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

About R500000 was used to institute the eco-hubs, Makwabe said.

Dlamini said by using illegal dumping sites, they were opening up other business opportunities like recycling waste.

She said eco-hubs in the small town would also give the youth work alternatives as opposed to relying on the automotive industry in Uitenhage.

"We are saying there are opportunities bigger than the automotive sector and I think the UDDI should be focusing on growing those industries."

Dlamini said the eco-hubs ran over a period of eight months to a year depending on the youths' commitment.

"Sometimes we find a situation where people just don't want to work. Now we are working with ward councillors to say 'let's find these people'.

"We want people who will say they want to be something. We need to encourage them, run entrepreneurship programmes with them, motivate them and not lose hope.

"I think the future is in their hands and they should grab opportunities and come to the UDDI." - Mkhululi Ndamase