R109m given for drought relief

2003-12-29 21:47

Marietie Louw

Pretoria - The government on Monday announced it had put aside R109m for an emergency water supply programme for provinces hard-hit by the devastating drought affecting large parts of the country.

Mike Muller, director-general of the department of water works and forestry, said the scheme would help millions of people who had been affected by the devastating drought.

A considerable portion of the R109m has already been sent to 36 municipalities in eight provinces.

Limpopo, which is the worst affected of all provinces, has so far received R32m. KwaZulu-Natal is to get R21m and Mpumalanga about R15m.

Muller said the money would be used to provide emergency water sources, such as boreholes. He said that later, once the drought was over, these sources would still be used.

Beeld reported earlier that the government started drilling boreholes in Limpopo about two months ago.

Dam levels are critically low

The money will also be used to truck in water to dry areas. However, at least R40m will be held back and used where necessary at a later stage.

The drought, however, is taking its toll and dam levels in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga are critically low.

A number of provinces have implemented water restrictions, and Mpumalanga has banned irrigation.

Jannie Roux, a labour administrator for Transvaal Agricultural Union SA, who is also a Free State farmer, said that although the Kroonstad district had had good rains since Christmas Day, the drought had not yet been broken.

He warned that people shouldn't think that after a few drops of rain, the crisis had passed. He said it would, instead, take a long time before the situation was rectified.

Meanwhile, the government is assessing the needs of communities and farmers in terms of what drought relief help can be provided.

- Beeld