Municipality approves budget of R2m for chicken house repairs

The eThekwini Municipality’s Economic Development and Planning Committee has given the green light to make more than R2 million available for the refurbishment of the chicken houses, which are based at the Cato Ridge AgriPark, near Hammarsdale.

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) municipality said they bought the Cato Ridge Chicken Farm, as part of government’s efforts to fight the scourge of job losses and unemployment. This forms part of the city’s Agribusiness Masterplan implementation, adopted by the Council in 2020. The 10-year strategic plan seeks to unlock new investment in the agribusiness value-chain of no less than R1 billion, said Agri-Business senior manager for Business Development and Production, Nkululeko Hlongwane.

In her presentation to the committee, Ms Hlongwane said an assessment indicated the need to improve the production capacity and efficiency of the existing chicken production houses. She said this will ensure that each production unit can accommodate 25 000 broiler flock per cycle.

“This improvement will facilitate the Cato Ridge AgriPark Incubator Farm to realise its commercial potential by yielding a minimum of 250 000 broiler chickens per cycle being produced on the farm. This translates to an estimated income of R102 million per annum that could be generated by the farm,” Ms Hlongwane said.

The Cato Ridge AgriPark Incubator broiler chicken production has unlocked commercial economic opportunities for local Agricultural Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises (agriSMMEs) to participate in the commercial production of broiler chicken and the meat value chain, Ms Hlongwane said.

There are seven businesses occupying Cato Ridge chicken houses which have created about 17 long-term jobs, she added. Economic Development and Planning Committee Chairperson, Thembo Ntuli, noted that the committee’s key objective is to facilitate inclusive economic development and job creation.

Meanwhile, refurbishment of Chatsworth ablution facilities project has created 23 job opportunities for the community residing in the Bottlebrush Informal Settlement, in Chatsworth, south of Durban.

As part of expediting service delivery in the city, the municipality’s Area Based Management Unit, working with the Water and Sanitation Unit, have recently refurbished the ablutions which were experiencing blockages, resulting in overflowing in informal settlements. The project included the rehabilitation of 500 collapsed and dilapidated toilets, according to the municipality.

Proportional Representative Councillor, Buyisiwe Gumede was happy with the efforts made by the eThekwini Municipality officials for the project which she said will have a positive impact on residents’ lives. She said they were pleased that the project has started. She added that there are other pressing needs in the community, including the shortage of housing, water and electricity supply that also needed to be addressed.