Statement by Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development

4 April 2017

 Statement by Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell.

 Fire trucks for rural municipalities handed over

 The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre handed over eight fully equipped fire-fighting vehicles to rural municipalities situated across the province today.

 These vehicles represent a total investment of R10 million.

 The Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell says the vehicles will be deployed to the following municipalities: Cederberg, Matzikama, Bergrivier, Witzenberg,Kannaland, Overberg, Hessequa, Laingsburg, Prins Albert en Beaufort West.

 “Last year we handed over two of these trucks and today we handed over the rest. This project represents a significant strengthening of the firefighting capabilities in these rural areas.”

 The Western Cape is now the only province where every municipality has a firefighting vehicle able to provide a firefighting service.

 Colin Deiner, the Chief Director: Disaster Management and Fire/Rescue Services in the Western Cape says the fire-fighting vehicles form part of a three year project that will see a total of R37-million invested into the improvement of firefighting capacity in the province.

 “These vehicles are custom made and come fully equipped. They also come with maintenance plans and in addition we provide full training to the firefighting services from each town on the trucks and the equipment,” says Deiner.

 Bredell says in addition to the fire trucks, the deployment of highly specialised Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) equipment along key routes in the province, thanks to a generous donation from petroleum giant Sasol, is also on track.

 “The N1, N2 and N7 routes are always at risk of potential hazmat spillages. The initiatives undertaken by the WCDMC now ensures these municipalities have the means to address potential disaster situations should they arise,” said Bredell.

 ENDS.