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Opening of Keiskammahoek Fire Station a sham

By

Dear Editor

At the beginning of the month, the Mayor of the Amahlati Local Municipality, Onke Mgunculu, officially opened the Keiskammahoek Fire Station to celebrate his first 100 days in office.

A recent oversight inspection of the new facility by myself and DA Constituency Leader, Nomvano Zibonda, revealed that the Mayor’s claims are a sham.

On inspecting the new station, we found an empty building with no furniture, no staff, flooded floors, and a massive water leak outside the building by one of the new fire hose installations.

To make matters worse, we determined that the fire station mayor Mgunculu is so proud of has erroneously been built on the flood plain of a nearby wetland area and not at the original earmarked site.

Sadly, all indications are that this brand-new fire station will only be operational mid-July, as the furniture still needs to be procured and firefighters still need to be appointed and trained.

These delays are a devastating blow, as it means that despite having a station, the municipality will not have responders to attend to fires during peak bushfire season.

The Democratic Alliance will be submitting questions to COGTA MEC, Xolile Nqatha, to determine why the station is not operational, even though it was ‘officially opened’ and ‘handed over.’

We will also be asking what the reasons were for allowing it to be built on a floodplain, on a wetland instead of the earmarked site, as well as the risks this poses for the brand-new building.

While the DA welcomes the construction of a fire station, which is much needed by the community – it is only of benefit to the community if it is fully functional.

Getting this fire station operational must be prioritised, so that it can function as intended and service the community in situations of fire and other disasters.

Regards

Vicky Knoetze, MPL
Shadow MEC for COGTA

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.