Pretoria - With the Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) short-term solution close to a successful completion, Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane will on Wednesday launch the AMD long-term solution.
Through the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on AMD, government in 2011 mandated the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), a State-owned entity under the Department of Water and Sanitation, to provide a short-term solution to the AMD challenge in Gauteng.
The IMC comprises the Ministers of Water and Sanitation, Mineral Resources, Finance, Science and Technology, and Minister in the Presidency responsible for National Planning.
The project was aimed at implementing the short-term action plan in the Western, Central and Eastern Basins of the Witwatersrand Goldfields, as recommended to the IMC by the team of experts.
The short-term action plan was to prevent decant in the Western Basin and breaching of the Environmental Critical Level in the Central and Eastern Basins.
Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane will launch the AMD long-term solution at the AMD Central Basin in Germiston.
The purpose of the long-term solution is to further treat the water by removing sulphates and creating water for commercial use as either industrial or potable water.
The long-term solution will therefore turn the AMD problem into a long-term sustainable solution by producing safe water. – SAnews.gov.za
