BUFFALO City has set aside an operating budget of over R3-billion for the 2010/11 financial year, residents heard during a Council Open Day. More than 200 residents and City stakeholders gathered at the East London City Hall to listen to Executive Mayor Zukisa Faku speak about the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and budget.

Faku said she saw the open day, held on 27 May, as a platform where all Buffalo City stakeholders and its residents could interact as equal partners in one of the most crucial processes in the city.

Speaking about the municipality's budget, she said the City had set aside an operating budget of R3,7-billion. "This money is meant to address developmental backlogs; respond to new and pressing challenges currently confronting the municipality and the people of Buffalo City; to fast track development; finance essential goods and services; provide and upgrade existing infrastructure and generally ensure that the needs of the people of Buffalo City are addressed to the best of our ability."

The capital budget was sitting at R480-million, with R70-million of this to be invested in the upgrading of sanitation infrastructure. Part of the amount was earmarked for the upgrading of rural sanitation infrastructure.

Also on the cards was the upgrading of the Zwelitsha Water Treatment Works, the Quinera Treatment Works, the Reeston Phase 3 Bulk Sewer and Mdantsane Bufferstrip Sanitation. In addition, R41-million was allocated to the upgrading of water infrastructure in King William's Town and Bhisho, to the Amahleke water supply and Umzonyana Water Treatment Works.

On the roads and transport side, the mayor said R109-million had been set aside for the Rapid Transit System which was approved by the council recently. The City had R95-million for upgrading rural and urban road infrastructure. "This is a general concern that emerged during the IDP hearings in April about the bad state of roads in both rural and urban areas."

Road implementation projects earmarked included the Qumza Highway, Yellowwoods River Bridge and Needs Camp/Potsdam Bridge.

Faku also spoke about refuse collection, which had been a challenge for the City in the past months. "For the time being, I want to state that we nevertheless have not given up the hope that the situation will eventually improve," she said.

To maintain cleanliness and address this challenge, the municipality would invest R17,5-million in the City's refuse collection and waste management capacity and a further R2,5-million to boost environmental services.

Responding to concerns of some residents raised during the IDP hearings, Faku said the City had expressed its concern over the lack of community facilities, including halls and recreation centres. "In some areas, communities use schools for their meetings. This means that such communities can only have meetings and other joint indoor activities outside school hours."

Some R18,1-million was set aside to tackle this, with construction and upgrading of halls in Mdantsane, Phakamisa, Scenery Park, Airport, St Mary and Ndevana. "We will also upgrade several sports fields and develop three new cemeteries in the inland, midlands and coastal regions," she added.

Unemployment and the lack of job opportunities were other concerns, and the municipality would inject R12,5-million into local economic development programmes and projects, with a special focus on tourism, agriculture, co-operative support programmes and dedicated emerging contractors and informal traders.

Making life better for destitute households, Buffalo City improved the total indigent consumer package from R283,90 per household to R313,43 in the new financial year. Each indigent household would continue to receive 50 kilowatts of free electricity and six kilolitres of free water each month.

These households would not pay for refuse removal or sewerage, and a fire levy, "as these will be subsidised".

Speaking about self-empowerment avenues, Faku said the City would make available an additional R350 000 for the Mayoral Bursary Fund and a further R600 000 towards youth advisory centres and youth development programmes.

For disability programmes, the municipality had budgeted R100 000 and another R100 000 towards the decentralised response to HIV/Aids. The executive mayor urged ward councillors to take the news to their wards and "to identify programmes and projects that are peculiar to their respective wards and inform people what the municipality is prepared to do for them".