Moving of departments to Bhisho 'on track'

PLANS to move Eastern Cape government departments from leased offices in East London to a new R1.2-billion office precinct in Bhisho are at an advanced stage.

This was revealed by Roads and Public Works MEC Thandiswa Marawu in her policy report to the Bhisho legislature.

The move to the R1.2-billion precinct is expected to save costs on leasing offices in East London.

Marawu's confirmation of the pending relocation of the departments came after workers at the offices of the provincial Department of Sport, Arts and Culture in King William's Town were idle for most of last week due to ongoing renovations at the building, which was a warehouse previously.

In addition, Labour Department officials were summoned to the offices of the provincial Department of Social Development, also in King William's Town, after employees complained about the "unacceptable state" of their workplace.

Marawu said millions were being spent on leasing properties for departments in East London and King William's Town, and plans for the Bhisho precinct, which would reduce spending, were with the provincial executive council.

"The Bhisho office precinct has entered its final stages of approval by the executive council. This will entail conducting due diligence and further investigation in order to evaluate the cost effectiveness, value for money and affordability of the funding proposal, and then structuring an optimal funding solution for the project."

She said there was a critical shortage of appropriate office accommodation for provincial government departments in Bhisho.

This reduced the ability of departments and the provincial government to meet service delivery objectives. In response to the crisis, the executive council had resolved to permit the relocation of a number of provincial departments to East London and King William's Town, on the understanding that once offices had been built in Bhisho, those departments would then again be based in Bhisho.

The affected departments in East London are Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Economic Development and Environmental Affairs, Social Development, Sport, Arts and Culture, Transport and Human Settlements.

The office precinct is part of a larger programme, the Bhisho Revitalisation Programme, drawn up to attract and stimulate economic growth and development in Bhisho and King William's Town. - Asanda Nini