CO N S TR U C TIO N
U P D AT E
An SKA-Mid dish structure next to its pedestal on the telescope site in the Karoo. Credit: SKAO/Jac Kritzinger
50 km anywhere on Earth! Using these higher, microwave frequencies enables communication without interfering with the radio frequencies used by the telescopes on site. Environmental walkthroughs of the infrastructure routing continue at the SKA-Mid site in compliance with our environmental management plan. These walkthroughs identify protected flora and fauna and determine whether species need to be protected or relocated or whether infrastructure must be rerouted.
Local community participation Our local workforce continues to grow on site, reflecting our commitment to ensuring local community participation and stimulating the local economy. More than 273 local community members are now employed by our main infrastructure contractor Power Adenco from Carnarvon, VanWyksvlei, Williston and Brandvlei to work on site; 22% are women, and 62% are between 18 and 35 years old. Power Adenco has also appointed 11 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) from the four towns for various construction works to date. Community meetings were held in the towns in July to provide feedback on progress related to local employment and contracting opportunities. Ten local community members have completed their National Qualification Framework (NQF) learnerships in construction supervision. Two of the graduates have successfully obtained construction work packages as SMMEs and the remainder have been appointed by Power Adenco as construction supervisors, so we extend our congratulations to them all.
Concrete pouring from a mixer truck into the cylindrical base of an SKA-Mid pedestal. Credit: SKAO/Jac Kritzinger
We are well on our way now to AA0.5! 24
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