Eastern Cape Dept of Education blames service provider for not communicating with residents

The Eastern Cape Department of Education says it is not to blame for the delay in the construction of a primary school at Motherwell's NU29 - instead shifting blame to a service provider.

A protest by Motherwell NU29 residents over the school started on Monday and on Wednesday, parents prevented their children from going to schoolin order to drive their point home.

Speaking for the Eastern Cape Department of Education, Malibongwe Mtima, said that the department is working to build the school, but parents must be patient.

"A design has been done for the school to be built.

"The parents say that they want a school, but it doesn't work like that. Designs have to be approved and the land has to be checked if it is in a good condition for a certain building," he told RNEWS.

"I understand that parents want a school for their children, but they also have to understand procedures."

'Eastern Cape Department of Education has made progress on NU29 school project'

He added that an environmental assessment of the area chosen for the school is yet to be done as required by the law.

"Things like graveyards have to be checked to avoid any problems with the land after the school has been built ," Mtima described.

He said that progress has been made - the designs for the school were approved, the land has been identified and the school has been given a name, but they want to make sure that the there will not be problems down the line after the school has been built.

"We have built many schools, especially in the rural areas and after three years, we encounter problems."

Mtima, however, said that residents were protesting against the wrong party in this matter.

He blamed the service provider on the project for failing to do their job.

"We have a Community Liason Officer (CLO) that is supposed to keep the community updated with progress on the building of the school," Mtima said.

"Their protest is supposed to lead to the service provider that we have hired to do the job but is failing to do it."

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