Nedlac's Development Chamber agrees a policy framework for job creation in community-based public works programmes

Friday, February 28, 1997

Nedlac's Development Chamber has tackled the issue of how to enhance the effectiveness of community-based public works programmes by agreeing on a policy framework for creating jobs in public works and the construction industry. The chamber's agreement was ratified by today's meeting of the Nedlac Executive Council.

A report to the Executive Council on the chamber's deliberations on the issue states that the ongoing development and implementation of macro economic strategies which provide labour-absorbing growth is essential but that, in the short-term, there is a need to urgently address the social consequences of unemployment. The chamber feels that the job-creating benefits of a successful macro economic strategy are only likely to be felt in the medium to long-term.

The chamber has formulated a number of proposals aimed at:

• Evaluating and monitoring community-based public works programmes.
• Turning around currently low levels of skills development and upgrading through training programmes.
• Tackling the negative consequences of short-term projects and the problems with creating ongoing job opportunities beyond such projects.
• Meeting the challenge of designing labour-intensive projects.
• Targeting the groups in our society that need employment most: women, youth, the disabled and rural communities.
• Improving the way in which funds for projects are allocated by the Department of Public Works.
• Properly maintaining completed projects.
• Addressing the problems around supplying materials to a project.
• Using the construction industry as one of the main vehicles for providing labour-intensive job creation.

In order to begin implementation of this agreement, the chamber has decided on the following way forward:

• Community-based public works programmes should continue, in accordance with the proposals made in the chamber's agreement.
• Government, labour, private construction firms and communities should work towards reaching an accord on job creation.
• With regards to the job-creation programme of the National Economic Forum (Nedlac's predecessor), the agreement proposes a joint evaluation of the programme between the Nedlac secretariat and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, which acted as the secretariat for the implementation of the programme.
• A follow-up project to the NEF's job-creation programme should be explored, and should involve the Department of Public Works, the construction industry and the Nedlac constituencies.