Garden Route to be rebuilt

[Lisbeth]

Garden Route to be rebuilt – Zille

2017-07-06 19:23 Kaveel Singh, News24

Cape Town – A strategy to rebuild the Garden Route, which was ravaged by a series of fires last month, is underway, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said on Thursday.

“Now it is time to rebuild. I sent a team to the region a week ago to assess how best the province can assist further. It is clear that the Garden Route requires significant support in the rebuilding process,” she said in a statement.

Zille said she undertook the Garden Route Rebuild Initiative in partnership with Garden Route Municipalities, community members and private sector donors.

Collectively, they hope to develop a rebuilding strategy for the area and identify where public and private funds can be best spent.

Large parts of Knysna, Brenton-on-Sea, Buffalo Bay and surrounds, and parts of Plettenberg Bay, went up in flames in June.

Nearly 10 000 people were evacuated and seven people died in at least 22 fires. More than 1 000 firefighters eventually brought them under control.

Province to cut red tape

According to Zille, the Rebuild Initiative will provide immediate support to municipalities for building approvals and coordination of humanitarian efforts.

It will also launch skills initiatives to enable local residents to participate in the rebuilding process.

“The initiative will be led by Minister Alan Winde, and coordinated by Dr Hildegarde Fast, who was previously Head of Department: Local Government who coordinated the disaster response to the Eden drought in 2009/10,” she said.

Also read: Western Cape govt allocates R75m for fire, storm, drought relief

The provincial team will draw in additional national and provincial departments and resources, according to Zille.

She said that recovering from the disaster meant building a stronger economic base.

“In recovering from this terrible disaster, we have an opportunity to build a resilient economy, create more sustainable jobs, and create a more united community. We can only do this if government, civil society, and the private sector join forces to create a future for the Garden Route that is more prosperous than before."

[harrys]

They might rebuild this area but it will never be the same many people we spoke to when we went to check the cables and the damage to them told us not to bother as they won't be rebuilding, lots of people don't have insurance and lost everything

The heartbreak and sadness will take time to heal we can only pray for these people and try to help where we can

To really see what these people(rich and poor) go through you have to be here to experience it.....it's so very sad

[Richprins]

Ai, Harry...

Are some of them holiday homes, or family homes, I fear?

[harrys]

Ai, Harry...

Are some of them holiday homes, or family homes, I fear?

You are looking at hotels( one lady's phone I repaired worked for a hotel in Welbedacht road for 16 years) burned to the ground, guest houses gone(jobs lost), private family homes burned to the ground( imagine you where us tech's and you had records off lines working in a distribution box and you have to phone them and these people tell you ''my house is gone so is my life'') of the 16 tech that came down we are only 9 left, for the guys who went back could not handle the mental exposure we have . Some people where lucky and only there phone lines where damaged but they are so sad as they have lost neighbors off 20, 30 years.

Lots of cars burned out only the shell left and I'm not talking about cars we drive, these where sports cars, luxury suv's and cars worth more than a million bucks,bakkies and double cabs, our opps manager's uncle lost his double story house a brand new Honda CRV and all his belongings, they only had their clothes on their bodies, this is 1 resident, in the article they mentioned 10000 people

At 1 of the burned out houses we saw a small tent with a gazebo where the people lived now

[Richprins]

I'm sure some plans will be made, Harry? But insurance should be the way to go?

It will take a while?

Be strong there.

[nan]

indeed sad... very sad

[harrys]

I'm sure some plans will be made, Harry? But insurance should be the way to go?

It will take a while?

Be strong there.

We heard today that around 1700 house where destroyed, the very disturbing thing is that lots of the owners did NOT have insurance

[Richprins]

Well then I don't know...up here one is forced to have insurance sometimes when buying...

Maybe many are informal settlements?

[Flutterby]

Very sad harrys!

[Richprins]

Additional teams sent to fire ravaged Garden Route area

They are there to help stabilise slopes vulnerable to mud slides following devastating and deadly wildfires in June.



Lauren Isaacs | about an hour ago

JOHANNESBURG - At least 90 additional working on fire personnel have been deployed to fire ravaged areas in the Southern Cape.

They are there to help stabilise slopes vulnerable to mud slides following devastating and deadly wildfires in June.

The organisation is part of the Garden Route rebuild initiative which was launched to fast track humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts.

Working on Fire's Lauren Howard said: “Another 45 people will be recruited to help with the hydro ceiling to spray fertilizer on the burnt ground.”

BUILDING APPROVALS FAST-TRACKED FOLLOWING DEADLY GARDEN ROUTE FIRES

Building approvals are being fast-tracked in areas affected by the recent Garden Route wildfires.

Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde and Public Works MEC Donald Grant met with mayors last month to discuss progress in relation to rebuilding in fire ravaged communities.

Seven people were killed, thousands were evacuated and hundreds of properties were destroyed in fires in and around Knysna and Plettenberg Bay last month.

The Garden Route Rebuild Initiative involves humanitarian relief, as well as rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Winde says further trauma counselling and social support will be made available later this week when a Thusong Mobile will be stationed at the Knysna Town Hall.

There, residents who've lost personal documents in the fire will be able to access government services from Home Affairs, the Department of Labour and Sassa.

Winde says a significant amount of public infrastructure has been damaged and preliminary assessments have already been compiled.

He says key challenges are the instability of burned slopes, which create a risk of mudslides and the re-growth of alien vegetation.

Additional reporting by Lindsay Dentlinger.

http://ewn.co.za/2017/08/09/additional- ... route-area