| Queenstown Newsletter April 2010 |
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QUEENSTOWN NEWSLETTER APRIL 2010Welcome New Members The month of March welcomed two new member companies to The Chamber – we congratulate them and look forward to a great partnership with them in the years to come:
1) Company: Justine’s Bed & Breakfast Contact person: Justine Hayes Contact Tel No: 045 838 5604
2) Company: Masoka Dignity Funerals Contact Person: Elliot Mayamezeli Masoka Contact Tel No: 045 838 7113 Support for UBUNTU continues The UBUNTU project is still in full swing, with around 120 children now attending the after-care facilities. Sadly many of these children are often so hungry that they battle to concentrate which makes educating them a real challenge. UBUNTU is in need of substantially increasing their monthly turnover in order to continue and expand the great work that has already begun.
The Border Kei Chamber of Business is excited about our involvement with this project and are looking at new and creative ways to further our contribution to such a worthwhile community project – we hope to report more on this in the coming months.
Thanks so much to Crickley Dairy, Queenstown Frozen Foods and Weirs Cash & Carry who have committed to assisting with food donations for the children attending these after-care facilities, as well as to Red Guard Security who will be responsible for the transport of these food donations to the schools starting in the first week of the new term.
We are looking forward to the prospect of two German volunteers from the DED who are expected to arrive around August to help out in these after-care facilities.
The BKCOB is also embarking on a marketing campaign of the UBUNTU products to the B&B’s in town starting early April and is looking forward to a positive response regarding this extremely worthy cause. BKCOB Calls for urgent intervention as Queenstown water crisis worsens Two weeks ago the BKCOB published a letter in The Rep regarding the ongoing water crisis in our region. Here are a few extracts from that letter in case you missed it:
“BKCOB calls for urgent intervention as Qtn water shortage worsens
The Border Kei Chamber of Business has sent out a clarion call to residents of the Lukhanji area to realise the potential critical impact of the current water shortage in the area. In an open letter to the public, BKCOB Qtn chairperson Bongani Khatshwa said the letter was a ‘call for help’ by all living in the area due to increasing concern over the deepening water crisis and a lack of awareness within the community. “We do not want to blame residents, organisations, municipalities or the government for this situation.”
Water was the basis of a lot of businesses in the area and thus the basis for employment, development, maintenance and advancement of local living standards, he said. Queenstown was however consuming more water than was available, and due to the growth of the population, the current drought, a below average rainfall cycle and no existing possibility to increase the water supply, the area was running out of water.
Khatshwa said the Bonkolo Dam has been closed and all the water that Queenstown is currently using is supplied by the Waterdown Dam. “These pipes are about 50 years old and were not designed to deliver the needed amount of water. If these pipes burst, we have no water supply.” “
On the positive front, the BKCOB was represented at the Water Crisis Committee Meeting where it was confirmed that Lukhanji had been declared a disaster area and a decision was made to ‘fast track’ the process of bringing the Xonxo Dam project to tender process by the end of July.
Sanral N6 Upgrade The Border Kei Chamber of Business continues to represent business in the monthly SANRAL N6 meetings, together with the road authority, municipality and constructors. By now you have probably realised that the detour from Ezibeleni to Livingston Road is open. If the Ezibeleni roundabout is closed, the detour will be the only possible route to get from Ezibeleni to Queenstown/East London.
The next construction phase for the N6 Upgrade is scheduled to begin by August this year. The BKCOB will keep you up to date regarding the details of this construction phase in our future newsletters.
If you have any reservations regarding the construction site please let us know. In this way we can raise these during our monthly N6 meetings as a business concern.
DED fact-finding delegation visits Queenstown A delegation from the DED visited Queenstown last week as part of a fact-finding mission regarding a partnership programme with organisations in the Eastern Cape. The delegation comprised of DED Germany local governance head of department Georg Müller, DED South Africa head of finance department Rudi Rottmann and DED South Africa LED co-ordinator Carsten Hildebrandt. A meeting was held with Queenstown’s Border Kei-Chamber of Business chairman Bongani Khatshwa, DED-seconded BKCOB LED advisor Percy Michalak and Chris Hani District Municipality LED advisor Thomas Weber, also of DED. At present, the service is active in several fields of work including local governance via strengthening of civil society and public participation, energy and climate change, skills development and the labour market. Bongani and the DED representative confirmed the prospering relationship between both parties. Interesting projects were initiated and they are looking at a close working relationship in the coming years.
Yours in Business, |
