Monday,
02 November 2020:
On Thursday, 29 October 2020, Eskom met with various District and Local
Municipalities from the Western and Northern Cape provinces to introduce the project
for the construction of the 282km 400kV transmission line, with associated
feeder bays and transformer bays which will be between Gromis substation in the
Northern Cape near Kleinsee and Juno substation in the Western Cape close to
Vredendal.
The Juno-Gromis 400kV transmission line
project is part of the Namaqualand Strengthening Phase 2 scheme. The project is
split into section A, B and C. The key objective of this multi-million rand
project is to strengthen the power network.
As part of the stakeholder engagements, Eskom was
accompanied by its two appointed main contractors to execute this important
project, namely Power Line Africa and Siyavuya/Umso joint venture. The
municipalities were equally represented by their executive mayors with representation
from Namakwa and West Coast District Municipalities as well as Matzikama and
Kamiesberg Local Municipalities.
Key issues discussed were the project
scope, timelines, socio-economic impact of the project to the local population,
stability of the project and the formation of the project steering committees.
All parties pledged to support the project and will play an active role to
minimise any acts of instability.
On behalf of Eskom, General Manager for
Project Stability, Matome Makwela, indicated that the partnership with
government is important to make sure that projects executed are fully supported
by the directly affected municipalities and communities. "We believe that
the success of any project depends on this kind of partnership hence this is an
important day for all of us. The key objective for us is to construct and
finish this 282km 400kV line within schedule, budget and with minimal
instability incidents and we believe that through these engagements we will be
able to execute this project successfully”.
Delivering
message of support on behalf of all the municipalities, Matzikama Local
Municipality Mayor, Councillor Mathilda Bains, started off with a powerful
quote by Vera Nazarian, who once said that: “In the kingdom of glass,
everything is transparent and there is no place to hide a dark heart.” “I say
this quote to emphasise that it is important that all parties work together in
a transparent manner for the benefit of the local communities and the success
of this project. We welcome this mega project to our municipalities and we look
forward to working with Eskom and the contractors involved”, said Councillor
Bains.
ENDS