LOUIS TRICHARDT - "Those who have been doing shabby jobs would be blacklisted and never be hired anymore," said the MEC for Local Government and Housing, Joe Maswanganyi, in an exclusive interview with Mirror during his visit to the storm disaster victims at the Sinthumule Kutama area of the Makhado Municipality on January 15th.

The MEC's statement came after some of the Disaster Houses roofs and walls, that were built in 2000 in the Sinthumule-Kutama area, were destroyed by storms before the Christmas Eve last year. "It shows to me that the developer didn't do his job up to the standard and that such people must be kicked away from doing things for the law abiding citizens" he said.

The MEC further stated that his department would make sure that developers in future are registered with the National Home Builders Registration Council. In addition, the MEC added that his department will rebuild houses for the poorest of the poor. He also made a strong appeal to the members of the community with strong nerves and deep pockest to also assist, as the government alone is not able to help.

When asked how long would the process of rebuilding the houses of the victims would take, MEC Maswanganyi revealed that at this stage it is difficult for him to give the exact period, as he is still going to present a full report to the Premiers Office.

Amongst the places that were visited by the MEC, was the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate Offices, which is now under renovation and near completion, Gogobole, Muraleni and Mauluma in the Nzhelele area.

In Mauluma village about 250 units were allocated two to three years ago and presently only half of the units are completed. "My main purpose of visiting this area was to overlook the progress made in regard with this Peoples Housing Progress, as well as tackling the problems that are delaying the Project," said MEC Maswanganyi.

The MEC said that people must plant trees in the yards and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry would assist them on doing that. In general, according to the Disaster Management Committee of the Makhado Municipality, about 221 households were affected by the heavy storms and about thirty tents were distributed to the most seriously affected households.

In addition, it was claimed by the Disaster Management Committee that an amount of about R6 130,80 was used to buy food parcels for the storm victims. Meanwhile, the Mayor of the Makhado Municipality is reported to visit Mauluma in Weeks to come with his Council to resolve the conflict between Citizens and the Ward Cllr and that the existing Committee would be disqualified for failing to work with the Cllr Kutama and neglecting the rights of the citizens.