The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called on the Dawid Kruiper Municipality to intervene in the construction chaos at the Industrial Park in Upington. This comes after business owners have been left in the dark regarding an obstruction at one of the main entrances to the park.
Construction at the park has been standing still for weeks, including the completion of the guard houses.
For almost a month, bricks have been piled at the entrance that is also blockaded by yellow beacons. This is an inconvenience to those working in the park and has resulted in high traffic volumes and traffic jams at the other entrances.
Private business owners, whose properties collectively make up the industrial park, are frustrated. After the municipality got them to agree to become part of the park, they have been sidelined. This, despite the impact of these construction projects on their business operations.
The DA has approached the municipality’s Local Economic Development (LED) officer and the Municipal Manager, who has indicated that a decision was taken at a site meeting for the road to be re-opened. Nothing, however, has happened to date.
The DA is currently participating in meetings with frustrated business owners and community civil organisations regarding their frustrations at the way the matters of the Industrial Park are being managed.
Dawid Kruiper is crying out for investment and economic development that can be generated by a well-run industrial park, but for the park to work, all stakeholders need to be involved and informed.