Maintenance, skills still impede infrastructure services

Abstract

Infrastructure The SAICE Infrastructure Report Card for South Africa 2011 is the second released by the institution, the first being published five years ago. The report focuses on the present condition of engineering assets in ten different sectors, from water and sanitation to ports, rail, healthcare and schools. “This report has been three years and many hundreds of hours in the making, ” noted report convenor Sam Amod. The assessment shows that, in general, there has been marginal improvement in the country’s infrastructure, fuelled mainly by the heavy investment in national assets such as ports, rail, airports and national roads. However, this does not mean that there has been a blanket improvement, state the authors. “On the contrary, the quality and reliability of basic infrastructure serving the majority of our citizens is poor and, in many places, is getting worse. Urgent attention is required to stabilise and improve these. ” Where have all our engineers gone? The prevailing skills shortages in the engineering sector again emerged as a theme this year.

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