Helenvale upgrade nears completion

The Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) is well on its way to completing its Helenvale safety upgrade project funded by the KfW bank of Germany

The R20m project for infrastructure and social projects in Helenvale was designed to run for five years from 2014, but the project had to be extended because of challenges the MBDA faced in implementation.  

MBDA operations executive Debbie Hendricks said the Safety and Peace through Urban Upgrading (SPUU) programme had been torpedoed in the past by gang violence and threats against staff and contractors at some of the sites in the area.

“We have learnt so much in Helenvale in terms of what it takes to implement projects in a challenging environment.

“We also recognise that a lot still needs to be done in terms of human capital development to overcome the socioeconomic challenges we confront daily as we engage with the community,” Hendricks said.

The money was to be spent on pedestrian walkways, lighting, a safe house, training facilities, safe school mobilisations and the revamping of sports fields at four schools.

Last Thursday, a delegation from the German Development Co-operation Bank visited the city.

The main purpose of the visit was to assess progress and finalise other details related to counter funding and sustainability.

MBDA spokesperson Luvuyo Bangazi said one of the conditions for the project was for the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and provincial government to facilitate projects that have a similar value to the German fund, commonly referred to as counter funding.

This means all related services delivered by various government spheres in Helenvale for the duration, should have a similar, or higher, value than that of the German Bank.

“A date is being arranged to make an assessment of the NMBM counter funding.

“This is aggregated investment by the NMBM and other government spheres on services related to focus areas covered by SPUU.

“We as the MBDA are not allocated those funds, they are spent and accounted for by the relevant departments,” Bangazi said.

Germany’s KfW Bank senior project manager Gabriele Gotz said what has been achieved in Helenvale was amazing and the MBDA was doing fantastic work.

“For us it was a very good day as we edge closer to completion and we hope the NMBM and the MBDA will take the lessons from Helenvale and use them to drive development in other parts of the city,” Gotz said.

Bangazi said the project was at about 80%, with the programme expected to be completed in April.

“We’ve made significant progress, and in some cases the work is complete, improving space and socioeconomic conditions for many vulnerable schoolchildren and youth in Helenvale.”