COENG CELEBRATES COMMISSIONING OF MORETELE SOUTH BULK WATER SUPPLY SCHEME (WATER PIPELINE)

Moretele, 10 May 2022. Multi-disciplinary Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCm) firm, COENG Consulting and Construction Engineers, is excited to be associated with the Moretele South Bulk Water Supply Scheme Pipeline Project. The project was officially commissioned in Hammanskraal in the North West Province, on Thursday, 5 May 2022.

Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr Senzo Mchunu, was the keynote speaker at the official commissioning, which was also attended by dignitaries including North West Premier Bushy Maape; Magalies Water Chairperson Pinky Mokoto; Bojanala District Municipality Mayor Matlakala Nondzaba; officials from the Moretele Local Municipality and Traditional Leaders.

Minister Mchunu highlighted the Constitutional Right of Access to Water for all South Africans; and emphasized the importance of the community looking after the Klipdrift Water Treatment Plant, from which this pipeline is fed. “The main goal of this project is to provide the people of Moretele with water seven days a week and it is important for us to remember that water is life and sanitation is dignity,” he stated.

Welsh Dlamini, COENG Head of Department for Quality Assurance and Risk Management, said it was an exciting day for COENG having achieved this project’s objectives. He explained that COENG’s scope in this project was two-pronged viz. the environmental management scope specifically as the project’s “Environmental Control Officer, i.e. ECO” and as the health and safety agent scope specifically as the project’s “Occupational Health and Safety Agent, i.e. OHS Agent”

COENG’s active involvement in the pipeline project dates back to 2016 when the Client (Magalies Water) started applying for the mandatory Construction Work Permit. The construction phase of the project commenced in 2018 until the recent completion in April 2022. “Our key role as the OHS Agent was, acting on behalf of Magalies Water, as a client, to supervise and ensure that the provisions of Construction Regulations (2014) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 are upheld from Concept to the Commissioning of the Project”, states Dlamini.

“From an environmental perspective, as the project’s ECO it was extra important that when this pipeline was being laid, environmental compliance to the provisions of appropriate environmental legislation was strictly adhered to, with the ultimate objective of enabling protection of the environment, especially when water is being provided to the community,” said Dlamini.

Charity Tagwireyi, COENG’s Health and Safety Manager, is part of the team which worked on the project. She indicated that no down-time really was experienced on the project as a result of safety incidents. “As part of our scope, we had to compile the baseline risk assessment as well as the health and safety specifications, which was given to the contractors so they could compile their safety files and also operate as appropriately guided during the laying of the pipeline”, states Tagwireyi. 

COENG was also involved in Stage-Five of the project which was the construction phase. “During construction, our resources were based at the project site on a full-time basis, and we would further undertake monthly audits. We would then compile and circulate audit reports to all project stakeholders”, she says.

Environmental Control Officer at COENG, Maria Ramugondo, was responsible for environmental compliance on the project. “At this tail-end stage of the project, we need to ensure that the environmental rehabilitation phase is completed. However, we are excited that water is provided to the community courtesy of the Department of Water and Sanitation and Magalies Water.”