Durban - UMngeni mayor Chris Pappas has urged the Howick community to take ownership of the project to revitalise the Howick Falls as a premier tourist destination site.
On Friday he held a public participation meeting with the community to get their view on the project.
The Howick Falls used to be an important tourist destinations in the Midlands, but over the years tourists have disappeared from the site, along with the job opportunities, as the site has been neglected.
Since taking over as mayor, Pappas and the DA have made revitalising the site a priority.
“The Howick Falls revitalisation has been on the cards for a very long time, it's been spoken about for a very long time. I think the reason it is spoken about is because this area is so dear to so many for different reasons , whether cultural or social,” said Pappas during the meeting,
“The idea behind these consultative processes is to say the site does not belong to any one person or one group, it belongs to the people of Howick and it actually is something that the rest of South Africa should be very proud of.
“We have embarked on a public consultation process to get your input on what is the best way forward,” said Pappas.
He said the municipality wanted to have the site restored to make it cleaner and more friendly to visitors.
“As a government we often come to you and say here is a great plan and then we implement it, but we are here to say, tell us what the plan should be and then we implement it.”
He said the residents had the right to express an opinion down to even the placement of the benches at the park near the falls.
“All of those things really need to come from you because the end product is not mine, it is yours,” he said.