Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has been taking stock of the damage caused by the huge fire which ripped through Masipumelele over the weekend, leaving thousands of people destitute, and helping to co-ordinate relief efforts.
JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, said on Tuesday an assessment had been completed by City officials which found that “410 structures in Block E and 713 structures in Block D were destroyed, totalling 1,123 structures”.
According to Smith, the number of people displaced stood at about 4,500, although a final figure would only be available once the registration process of all the victims was completed.
Disaster Risk Management was co-ordinating disaster relief efforts and were supplying three meals a day for victims of fire.
Smith said the City’s Solid Waste department was busy clearing the site to allow for partial reblocking of the area.
Smith said the density of the structures was too great to allow for a complete reblocking reblocking process although the site was by Tuesday three quarters complete.
“Engineering Services are preparing two meter wide fire breaks and dividing area up in large blocks before rebuilding of structures,” he said.
“Registration of victims of fire is almost complete as well.”
Disaster relief efforts included relief donations of food, bedding, clothing and mattresses. Smith said the total cost of rehabilitation efforts and starter structures would be around R12 million.
Meanwhile, the City is also measuring the impact of the fire on several key projects in the area.
Smith said a second access road to Masipumelele (Houmoed Road) was already under construction, but would now be delayed by fire and would result in additional costs which will push up the project costs of R21.6 million.
“The Fire Department is also preparing to build a new fire station at the entrance to Masipumelele,” he added. “The purchase has been verified and is already busy with appointing quantity surveyors. This fire station will be completed by 2017.”
The projected cost of the fire station was between R12-14 million with a further R6 million a year budgeted for approximately 30 firefighters.
ANA
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.