Govt plans over state assets
2009-06-17 21:04
Cape Town - Government is to develop a prioritisation model for planned maintenance of state-owned assets, Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge said on Wednesday.
"We are very aware of the fact that this department has in the past been heavily criticised for the poor state of maintenance of government fixed properties," he told the National Assembly during debate on his budget vote.
"As part of our strategy, we intend developing a prioritisation model for the utilisation of planned maintenance to improve the conditions of state-owned assets this financial year," he said.
Last year's launch of the National Infrastructure Maintenance Strategy (NIMS) had signalled a "resolute decisiveness" to recognise the building maintenance industry as invaluable to South Africa's socio-economic imperatives.
Effective rollout
"In conjunction with our public entities - the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the Council for the Built Environment - we envisage an effective rollout of NIMS with emphasis on all spheres of government to implement proper plans, which will factor in maintenance of public infrastructure."
In support of the national energy efficiency strategy, the department developed the energy code of conduct for equal application to custodians, and the users of government buildings.
In recognition, National Treasury had allocated R230m in support of the energy efficiency programme over the medium-term expenditure framework cycle.
Sharing energy contracts
This would enable the shared energy contracts to be extended to the other public works department regions, he said.
Doidge also announced that deputy minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu would be responsible for the asset management programme, which had as its key task provision of a comprehensive asset register.
She would also be focusing on the contractor development programme, the property incubator programme, and departmental governance regarding representation on various entity boards, he said.
- SAPA