The municipality was awarded the Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) and Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) award in the category for water and waste water projects for 2012, at the opening night of the annual conference of the Institute of Municipal Engineers, held at the Outeniqua Transport Museum on Tuesday.
Imesa and Cesa (Consulting Engineers South Africa) combined their annual awards ceremony with the opening of the event, which brought together 650 delegates from over the country.
Plettenberg Bay Municipality's desalination plant was a nominee in the same category. Mossel Bay was also short-listed in the category Roads and Storm Water for its R3.3-million roads upgrading project in Brandwag.
The seawater desalination plant is currently in operating and maintenance mode and will remain so unless droughts, peak consumption periods of economic development priorities require it to be operated at higher capacities than at present.
"We are pleased to have received another award for this project, which is invaluable to Mossel Bay from a water security point of view. Although our dams are full at present, the Southern Cape is periodically prone to droughts and this plant will help Mossel Bay to cope well should the area suffer severe droughts again in future. It will also help the town from a growth perspective," said Mossel Bay's Executive Mayor, Alderlady Marie Ferreira.
Mr Jannie Pietersen, outgoing president of Imesa, in his presidential address highlighted the challenges that municipal engineers face in South Africa.
On the theme of the conference, 'Engineering for change', Pietersen said that engineers should use and share their knowledge to help enhance the running of municipalities. "By changing their mindset from 'we are engineers' to 'we are agents engineering change', their contribution can transform the lives of many."
Mr Frank Stevens was also inducted as new president at the opening function.
Mr Dick Naidoo, director of Technical Services of the Mossel Bay Municipality, receives the award for engineering excellence from Imesa President Mr Jannie Pietersen (right) and Cesa President Mr Naren Bhojaram (centre).
ARTICLE AND PHOTOS: ALIDA DE BEER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST
