GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (SBDM) in conjunction with the Dr. Beyers Naudè Municipality (DBNLM) recently handed over personal protective equipment to twenty unemployed community members in DBNLM. 

These community members are part of a water training initiative led by SBDM with funding from the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA). 

The water training initiative aims to skill and train 20 unemployed community members and 90 municipal employees from across the district. 

The 20 unemployed learners and 66 municipal workers are completing a National Certificate in Water and Wastewater Treatment Process Operations with the additional 24 municipal workers completing a National Certificate in Water and Wastewater Reticulation Services.

This initiative will provide unemployed community members with a qualification which will enable them to apply for employment in the water services sector, it also aims to provide municipal employees already working in water services with a professional qualification. 

The professionalization of water services staff will lead to improvements in water quality across the district and help local municipalities to improve their Blue Drop and Green Drop scores. 

The Blue Drop is a certification programme for drinking water quality management regulation and the Green Drop is a certification programme for wastewater quality management regulation by the Department of Water and Sanitation.

This initiative has been rolled out to all seven local municipalities within the Sarah Baartman District.

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