​As we bid farewell to the festive season, there are several reasons for the residents of this District to reflect on how the Municipality has fared through the festive period in living up to its promise of providing reliable service of water and sanitation.After all, during this festive period the number of visitors who descended to our District had undeniably increased which was a good spectacle for our tourism while it also placed a huge demand for services of water and sanitation. And despite this, the municipality has pulled out all the stops to ensure that our visitors had a hassle-free stay during this period.The Municipality’s Festive Season Preparedness Plan remained our lodestar which outlined our commitment in sustaining a stable supply of water and sanitation service during the festive season. And a Joint Operations Committee was established to closely monitor and administer the implementation of this plan, a task which was carried out with an assurance. We accelerated our response time on all recorded calls of service interruptions and kept our communications channels open with our key stakeholders. And we shall forever be grateful to the cooperation received from residents and councillors during this period. All our workers were available and fully committed to serving our residents and visitors.Still confronted by the challenge of ageing infrastructure coupled with financial difficulties, measures were developed to have adequate resources available i.e human resources, water tankers, vehicles and standby private service providers to enhance the Municipality’s ability to swiftly respond to service delivery emergencies as effeciently as possible. And it is a well documented fact that during peak season periods, our supply networks experience  high demand of water supply which places severe strain on our water network. We were indeed on high alert on all hot spot areas and ensured that in the case where there was a prolonged water supply interruptions, alternative measures were implemented within the minimum amount of times.As we look ahead, we have identified certain areas that require urgent attention and these areas will find their expressions on our budget priorities as we head towards the municipal budget adjustment process.We look forward to joining forces with residents of this District in the year 2019 to continue transforming our District into a sustainable, resilient, and successful District that we can all be proud of. Let’s continue having a conversation on water and sanitation related issues through our facebook page; ‘Ugu Municipality Talk’ or our 24-Hour Call Centre on 08000 WATER (92837) or (039 688 5830/36 or SMS line 44751ENDSISSUED BY:UGU DISTRICT MUNICIPALITYFor more information and media queries contact:Senior Manager: Mayoralty and CommunicationsMr France ZamaFrance.Zama@ugu.websitesupport.co.za