Fire & Flood Awareness Campaign Roadshow aims to mitigate Fire, Flood & Drought | Western Cape Government

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Fire & Flood Awareness Campaign Roadshow aims to mitigate Fire, Flood & Drought

10 October 2017

Fire & Flood Awareness Campaign Roadshow aims to mitigate Fire, Flood & Drought Risk in Vulnerable Communities in the Western Cape

 

The Department of Local Government, through the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre, will launch its 2017/18 Fire and Flood Awareness Campaign Roadshow on 4 September 2017. The Fire & Flood Awareness Campaign Roadshow is an annual priority of the Western Cape Government that aims to raise awareness in primary schools in areas vulnerable to fires and floods in the Province.

 The principal aim is to address and mitigate the prevalence and impact of fire and flood related incidents/disasters that may cause injury, loss of life, damage to property and displacement of people. The campaign will also focus on water conservation awareness in an effort to mitigate the impact of the current drought.

 The campaign, which runs until 11 November 2017, will take place in the entire West Coast District Municipality and target 112 primary schools.

 The campaign consists of a 30 minute industrial theatre production designed and produced for primary school children between grades 1 – 7. It aims to effectively communicate and educate them in an interesting and innovative way on the dangers of fires, floods and other hazards such as drought, to ultimately achieve risk-avoidant behaviour and emergency preparedness.

 Demonstrations are made on preventative measures and actions to prevent emergencies or in case of emergencies with a strong emphasis on the emergency numbers to call, i.e. 10177 from a landline and 112 from a cell phone. The play will be performed in either Afrikaans, or English & IsiXhosa. Learners are also asked questions throughout the production on fires, floods & drought to encourage active participation.

Scholars will receive pamphlets on fire and flood to discuss further in class and to take home. Rulers, bookmarkers, pencils and posters which contain fire and flood safety tips and the emergency numbers will be provided to teachers to hand out to learners and to put up in their classrooms’ respectively.

Gerry the Giraffe, the campaign’s official mascot, will return to entertain his audience and reiterate the message of ‘preparedness’.

The campaign targets the vulnerable and rural communities who were not visited in previous years and is planned in collaboration with municipalities (Fire Brigade Services, local and district municipalities’ Disaster Management officials).

In the 2016/17 campaign, 51 primary schools were reached in the eastern half of the Eden District Municipality, whilst in the 2015/16, 34 primary schools were reached in the Cape Winelands District Municipality.

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Media Enquiries: 

Ms Patience Dlikilili

Assistant Director: Corporate Communications

Western Cape Government

 8th Floor, Waldorf Building, 80 St George’s Mall, Cape Town, 8000

 Tel:  021 483 2661

Patience.Dlikilili@westerncape.gov.za

Website: www.westerncape.gov.za