THE Kouga Council approved an adjustment budget of over a billion rand at a meeting held on Friday, February 28.
This is the first time in the history of the municipality that a budget of a billion rand has been approved by the Council.
Operational expenditure amounts to R925 million, while the approved capital budget is R194 million. This equates to a total expenditure budget of R1,1 billion.
Internally-generated funds make up R56,7 million of the capital budget, while R137,9 million is from national government grants and includes nearly R100 million of drought funding that was received from National Treasury in the previous financial year.
The water projects are expected to be complete by the end of June and will ensure that the coastal towns in Kouga have water security in times of drought.
This includes the towns of Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay and Oyster Bay, while Humansdorp is also included.
The drought funding is being spent on searching for groundwater, connecting new boreholes to the water grid, upgrading water infrastructure and identifying the cause for water losses throughout Kouga.
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