Joining National Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe, who attended the opening of the new Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre before he departed to open the new railway station at Mandalay, are, from the left, Jenny Hendry, Richard Petersen and Laura Angeletti Du Toit.
Jenny Hendry, who is the new Deputy Director in charge of the WCRC, could hardly wait to show off this prestige facility to National Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe, Premier Ebrahim Rasool and Provincial MECs Pierre Uys and Mcibisi Skwatcha.
According to Laura Angeletti Du Toit, the construction of this top-of-the-range facility was truly a highlight of her directorate. The project combined the relocation of the Conradie Hospital and the rehabilitation centre at the Karl Bremer Hospital with the creation of a care facility for 240 in-patients. "The healthcare facility provides physical rehabilitation for paraplegic, quadriplegic and spinal injury patients. It was a R 100 million project completed in only 18 months. Normally such a project would have taken 36 to 40 months to complete," she said.
The Public Works in-house project team played an extremely important role throughout the planning phases in ensuring that the highest standards of design and construction were met. Laura says that it was a great achievement for contractors, consultants and the end-user department due to the fact that a project of such great complexity was delivered in such an extremely short time frame.
The Public Works Project team who steered the development of the new Western Cape Rehabilitation Centre are, from the left, Johan Olivier, Abie Koen, James Ackermann, Avril Jossie, Allan Dewing, Peter Stuurman, Gerard Beukes, Musa Risenga, Reuben Jones and Stanley Bolnik.
"It was also a typical example of a very fine model of teamwork between the disabled consultants employed on the project and the numerous planners and rehabilitation facility staff, who have endeavoured to provide the very best accommodation possible, with durability and low maintenance factors always in mind in its construction," she said.
The construction project at Lentegeur was completed in three main phases, with an additional road, mechanical, civil and electrical services and a landscaping contract added to it. Much-needed employment opportunities were provided as a result of the tender requirements, which ensured that the local community benefited from the project.
