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R1bn to flush away bucket loos
23/03/2007 20:26 - (SA)
Johannesburg - R1bn has been allocated this year to eradicate bucket toilets in established settlements by December, said the department of water affairs and forestry on Friday.
"All bucket systems that exist in formal establishments and townships will be completely removed by December 2007," said spokesperson Themba Khumalo.
Figures at the end of February indicated that 117 060 bucket toilets remained in seven provinces, with the biggest backlogs in the Free State, Eastern Cape and North West, he said.
There were 84 984 buckets in the Free State, 17 072 in the North West and 8 170 in the Eastern Cape.
The Northern Cape had 4 115, the Western Cape 1 594, Gauteng 1 125 and Mpumalanga zero.
The department's programme only dealt with bucket toilets in formal establishments and townships, said Khumalo.
Land 'developed for housing'
Those in informal housing settlements were addressed through the national housing programme where land was identified and developed for formal housing, he said.
The department had mobilised engineers to provide support to municipalities for the programme.
The department also worked closely with the department of provincial and local government and the department of housing to align programmes, he said.
President Thabo Mbeki set the deadline for the eradication of bucket toilets in established settlements by December in his State Of The Nation address last year.
Khumalo said an extra R400m was added to the R600m budget for 2007/08. This brought the total amount allocated to the bucket eradication programme since 2005 to R1.6bn.
Water affairs minister Lindiwe Hendricks will launch the department's Sanitation and Hygiene Week on Monday in Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal. National Water Week ends on Saturday.
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