The Democratic Alliance DA in Mpumalanga has expressed concern over the amount spent on the provinces International Fresh Produce Market. More than R2 billion has so far been spent on the construction of the facility that still remains closed years later.
Premier Mandla Ndlovu announced that the market would be opened at the end of July. However, the provincial Agriculture Department postponed the opening, citing technical administrative oversight.
It is reported that the municipality is still considering by-laws which regulate the functioning of the market, but DA member of the provincial legislature Tersia Marshall says the problem is a shortage of suppliers.
About R1.8 billion was spent, but more funding has been made available for the market to get it operational, and that amount has been in excess of R400 million. So, if you calculate that, its far over R2 billion that was spent here, and this market is still not operational. Our biggest concern is that we dont have suppliers, we dont have farmers that can supply this market. If you look at the size of the market and what it was built for, we dont have that kind of supply in Mpumalanga.