In a bid to protect and preserve the health of the Knysna Estuary, the local municipality entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Knysna Infrastructure Group and step one is sewage.
The MOU was signed at the Knysna municipality council chambers on Friday with the aim of uniting the public, private and governmental spheres with the common goal uplifting the region both economically and environmentally.
Knysna executive mayor Thando Matika said residents were eager to step in and assist in a variety of projects across the municipality.
“We have received offers of assistance from community members over the years, including retired professionals, the business community and other civic organisations,” Matika said.
“This collaborative spirit was particularly evident during the 2017 fire disaster and, more recently, during the Section 154 process.
“Until now, the management and facilitation of such support were not adequately addressed in any existing municipal policy framework.”
He said the relationship between the infrastructure group and Knysna municipality had been ongoing.
“This is to formalise the joint partnership,” he said.
“We know that we’ve been facing challenges of sewer spillage that affect our estuaries and High eco levels, signing the agreement with KIG will assist us and mitigate those challenges.”
He said the bulk of municipalities pumps had remained with the service provider because of disputes that had since been resolved.
On Monday the infrastructure group will begin installation of pumps.
Knysna Infrastructure group NPO director Eugene Vermaak said the group aimed to run regular tests into the estuary and handle the research with the Knysna Research Foundation.
“From the infrastructure side, we’ve been very involved in the sewage network, pump stations, the water network, and the knowledge that we’ve built up over the last 18 months has given us a lot of insight into what the two problems are.”
He said the group aimed to address the sources of the contamination into the lagoon.
“This could mean a broken infrastructure, pump stations that’s failed, and work with other organisation that aim at addressing the contamination of the estuaries, even the ones that include educating the community.
“Getting preemptive information which means measuring the E coli on a daily basis and conducting research to understand biodiversity which will create an immediate reaction that almost preemptively addresses issues before they even arise.”
He said the process would be broken down into three categories:
- Collecting the data and understanding what the current status is.
- Then the physical infrastructure, the repair work, fixing things to limit further contamination of the estuary.
- Thereafter the education, training, upskilling of the community,
Vermaak said this project would not only alleviate the Knysna infrastructure crisis, but the three-year agreement would also create employment for locals and promote Knysna.
According to the director the group had loyal locals that donated monthly into the group, and they would further raise about R20m to be able to operate for a longer term.
The Herald
