| The Executive Council also discussed the issue of land claims and its impact on agricultural development in the context of challenges regarding Makgobaskloof. In this regard, the Executive council noted the continued delays in the resolution of land claims and difficulties in the sustainability and/or productivity of claimed lands post settlement. The Executive Council has therefore tasked the department of Agriculture to propose a viable model that will benefit communities in more meaningful way. This should amongst others include continued utilization of the land once an offer of purchase has been made, shortening of the period between the time the claim is lodge and the time is transferred to the claimant, support to beneficiaries post the settlement of the claim, and more importantly, viable ownership models. Taking place on the verge of the presentation of the provincial Budget for the financial year 2008/09, the Executive Council meeting also gave the Provincial Treasury an opportunity to present the expenditure report of government. The report showed signs of significant improvement in spending of the budget by government departments and institutions. Of particular note is that spending is mostly on the infrastructural developments projects and related service delivery programmes such as provision of electricity, water and sanitation. "This biasness towards infrastructure development in spending has contributed significantly to skills development and job creation in the province, hence the decline in unemployment rate from 35.4% in March 2006 to 32.4% in March 2007 as also confirmed by Statistics South Africa" said Limpopo Premier, Sello Moloto. The Executive council further directed that in line with the priorities of government for the financial year 2008/09, 79% of the provincial budget to be presented on the 28th of February 2008 should be allocated to the social sector, with Health and Education being the major beneficiaries. On the other hand, he continued power outages, particularly their impact on the economy and daily lives of the people, remain a great cause for concern the provincial government. "It is against this back ground that Premier of Limpopo convened an urgent Premier's Intergovernmental Forum on the 22nd of February 2008 in Polokwane to discuss the Provincial Energy Efficiency Plan in order to save more energy and sustain the growth of the economy", said Mogale Nchabeleng, spokesperson of Limpopo Provincial Government. The draft provincial plan from this Premier's Intergovernmental Forum was presented to this meeting of the Executive Council on the 27th of February 2008 for adoption. "The Executive Council adopted the plan as the provincial guide to action in response to the electricity challenges facing the province and the country as a whole. The plan includes an aggressive Power Conservation Programme that will ensure an improvement if the energy reserve margins, inculcating of behavioural change in terms of energy consumption and, more importantly, productivity gains in the economy through elimination of wasteful energy usage", said Limpopo Premier, Sello Moloto. A multi-stakeholder to oversee and coordinate the implementation of this plan was also established. The Task team is composed of the Office of the Premier, Department of Local Government and Housing, ESKOM and Government Information and Communication System. Municipalities on the other hand have been tasked to develop the municipal-specific energy efficiency plans. These would include the development of by-laws that would ensure that ESKOM and other stakeholders enforce energy saving mechanisms as a matter of urgency. "The campaign to educate communities about the significance of energy saving and related alternative energy sources will be led by the Premier and the MEC for Local Government and Housing", said Mogale Nchabeleng. Publication Date 29/2/2008 12:16:10 AM(IST) - MyNews.IN - http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=2645 | 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home