The City of Johannesburg is now in the process of declaring last week’s gas explosion in the Joburg CBD a local state of disaster.
City manager Floyd Brink said they were busy compiling reports for the Provincial Disaster Management Centre.
Brink said declaring a local disaster would allow the city to assess the impact of the explosion on infrastructure and to cost the rehabilitation work required.
He said the Disaster Management Centre would finalise a report for submission to the PDMC within seven days.
City Manager speaks about the time it will take to declare the explosion a Local State of Disaster and the findings of old gas pipes after the explosion #JoburgExplosion #JoburgUpdates ^NJ pic.twitter.com/2JkQeosqAV
— City of Joburg (@CityofJoburgZA) July 26, 2023
Giving a seven-day outlook since the explosion, Brink said the city had swiftly deployed the fire, health, and police response in a well-coordinated manner. It had opened a joint operations centre at Mary Fitzgerald Square.
“As the head of the technical team, I am pleased to inform the residents of the City that in this particular incident, our systems have worked and have done so successfully. We have also identified gaps where they may exist and as part of the lessons learned, several processes will be reviewed to assist us in improving our offering for any future occurrences,” Brink said.
On restoration of services to the inner city, Brink added water, electricity and sanitation services to the CBD had been restored after last week’s massive gas explosion on Bree Street.
The explosion claimed one life, injured 48 and damaged at least 34 vehicles.
Lights and water, as well as the sewer pipelines in the city, had to be shutdown last week to allow officials to inspect the cause of the explosion.
Brink confirmed last week that the massive explosion had been caused by a gas leak, but they were still investigating the source of the leak.
City Power Joburg successfully restored Power to the CBD on Tuesday, with areas such as FNB’s Bank City, the Wanderer's Taxi Rank and the inner city being reconnected.
Brink said officials also finished repairing Joburg Water infrastructure, including two broken sewer connections at Bree and Loveday Streets and at Bree and Von Brandis Streets.
“This has enabled the reconnection of sewer services to the area, and as of today, we are confident all residents in the area should be reconnected and having access to regular sewer services,” said Brink.
Brink has also provided a seven-day outlook after the gas explosion happened exactly a week ago.
“Seven days on, we have made great strides in our emergency response and recovery of services in the area.
“Our Emergency Management Services (EMS) have executed exceptionally well in their duties from the very first responders to the explosion on the day,” said Brink on Wednesday.
IOL