Rebuilding the Garden Route
A briefing session for the Garden Route Rebuild initiative held last week at the Bitou municipality left a taste of disappointment in the mouth of this journalist when he arrived at the venue only to discover the media briefing was cancelled an hour before it was set to start.
Not only was the briefing, scheduled to take place at 12:00 on Thursday, August 3, cancelled an hour before, but the invite was sent on short notice the previous day at 13:51, requesting the media’s presence.
A question posed to the initiative’s coordinator Dr Hildegarde Fast as to why the meeting started earlier than the invite stated, received the following reply: “Executive mayors were briefed about progress made by the Garden Route Rebuild initiative, its seven work streams and work groups. The engagement with political leadership started at 10:00. Please accept our apologies for the late cancellation.”
A question posed as to why it was decided on such short notice that media representatives would not be able to attend, was answered as follows: “Unfortunately, the executive mayor of Eden District municipality, councillor Memory Booysen, had to be in Cape Town, and the Western Cape minister of economic opportunities Alan Winde was also unable to be present.”
The meeting was attended by the mayors and municipal managers (MM) of Greater Knysna, Eleanore Bouw-Spies and Kam Chetty respectively; and Bitou municipality, Peter Lobese and Thabo Ndlovu respectively; Eden District MM Monde Stratu; Western Cape government disaster operations representative Jaqueline Pandarum; and Eden District disaster management representative Gerhard Otto.
Winde’s office released an update of what was achieved in the past two weeks. He said the Garden Route Rebuild initiative has recorded significant progress since its establishment two weeks ago. The update (verbatim) is as follows:
Progress made:
Both Knysna and Bitou municipalities have indicated that they will waive building-related fees for owners of properties that were destroyed. Properties are in the process of being revalued as vacant plots (which will result in lower property rates bills).
A physical verification of destroyed businesses in Knysna is 98% complete, and an audit of available business space for affected businesses has commenced in Knysna.
A GIS database has been created, which identifies owners of private land who need to reduce their fire risk, and this will form the basis for engagement with these owners.
The National Disaster Management Centre has classified this disaster as a provincial fire disaster. Province will therefore gazette the declaration of a provincial fire disaster in the near future. This means that more resources will become available to assist in the rebuilding process, and procurement processes can be fast-tracked.
An additional 90 Working on Fire (WoF) personnel have been deployed to stabilise slopes that are vulnerable to mudslides. Another 45 people will be recruited from the Knysna area to assist with “hydro sealing”, which is when fertiliser and seeds are sprayed onto burnt ground. This is all in addition to the existing 45 WoF personnel who have been working on reducing the fire risk in the area.
388 people were provided with a wide range of government services on 26-27 July in Knysna, including assistance with obtaining IDs and birth certificates from Home Affairs, social assistance from the Department of Social Development, and assistance with grant applications to SASSA.
All destroyed properties that have asbestos have been identified, and Knysna has provided a list of accredited asbestos removal companies. The process of obtaining demolition certificates will include a requirement that owners of asbestos-identified properties must demonstrate that the asbestos is safely removed.
Note: Illegal dumping is a concern in both Bitou and Knysna municipal areas. Members of the public are urged to report illegal dumping in Knysna on 081-556-9374, and in Bitou on 086124-8686.
Owing to the high cost of asbestos removal, an application for emergency funding has been submitted to the National Disaster Management Centre. An emergency funding application for fire reduction and erosion mitigation has also been submitted.
In the coming weeks, a more comprehensive application for disaster funding will be submitted, and this will encompass all the public infrastructure that has been damaged.
The following will take place in the next two weeks, according to the press release:
Knysna and Bitou will finalise the requirements for the submission of building plans. They are considering how best to deal with the building regulations that were introduced in 2011; if these new regulations were strictly applied, it could require extensive redesign of previous building plans and lengthen the approvals process. Both municipalities are committed to making the rebuilding process as smooth and inexpensive as possible, while at the same time adhering to the principle of “building back better”;
The Department of Social Development will complete an assessment of the needs of the 2 000 households who were affected by the fire by contacting each household.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions on access to social services and on building plan processes will be made available to the public.
Knysna municipality will facilitate a meeting between the Department of Labour and businesses that have or will soon retrench workers. This is to explain the Training Layoff Scheme, which can provide training and financial support to workers who may be temporarily retrenched.