The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has welcomed the approval by the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) to develop ERF 17639 in Kariega, to allow the relocation of more than 100 families from Lapland informal settlement to the Van Rooyen Avenue site, after floods ravaged Kariega over a month ago.
This comes after the Metro assessed the land and applied to the Department following the tragic flood disaster that hit Kariega in June, which threatened the lives of Lapland residents.
DEDEAT together with the Department of Water and Sanitation recommended the removal of the families considering that the informal settlement is situated on a flood plain and downstream of the Tiryville dam and “may be adversely affected by high flow conditions or floods in the event of high rainfall in the catchment of the river or stream”.
NMBM Executive Mayor, Cllr Gary van Niekerk said the approval would allow the Metro to clear the site in preparation for the important work of relocating the families. “We are ecstatic to have received the approval on Monday, 22 July 2023 getting us closer to relocating the community affected by the floods. We have noted the conditions attached to the approval and our teams are already working on them. We will provide basic services to the sites and then construct temporary shelters. The long-term plan is to build proper houses in that area,” the Mayor said, adding that DEDEAT has also instructed the Metro to:
- Appoint a competent, suitably qualified, and experienced Environmental Control Officer (ECO) to oversee the implementation of the proposed development: Construction of 183 TRUs on Erf 17639 Kariega (Van Rooyen Avenue).
- Install and place temporary water and sanitation facilities
- Place waste-management facilities within a fenced-off area with skips as an interim measure until the site is serviced by the waste management removal unit of NMBM and
- Demolish and remove the informal structure at the Lapland site.
“We appeal to our communities to work with us to ensure that no one else builds a shack and lives in the Lapland site and other flood-prone areas within the Metro, as they pose a safety risk and hazard to human lives. Once we relocate these affected residents, we shall demolish the structures according to the approved application and no resident will be permitted to build and live in the area again.”
NMB Communications
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