The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Phokwane municipality has called on the Frances Baard District Municipality (FBDM) to speed up the operationalisation of the newly built fire station in Jan Kempdorp.
This comes after a lucerne truck caught alight in close proximity of a petrol station in Jan Kempdorp over the weekend. A case of arson has not been ruled out.
Firefighting assistance could not be summonsed to help extinguish the fire and mitigate the risk of it spreading to the petrol station, due to there being no operational fire station in the area. This has exposed the vulnerability of the Phokwane community, in the event of a fire.
Phokwane municipality has never had an operational fire station. It was previously dependent on assistance provided by the South African National Defense Force, and on farmers who have had to implement their own firefighting system.
More recently, however, FBDM, which is responsible for disaster response in Phokwane, agreed on the need for the establishment of a fire station within the municipality.
A new building was erected in Jan Kempdorp but has been standing empty for over a year.
The DA has in recent months noted tender advertisements issued by Frances Baard district municipality, for flooring and the construction of carports at the station, and reports about staff appointments being underway. We have not, however, received any answers with regards to the timelines for the operationalization of the station. Whether a new fire truck has been procured to service the Phokwane area, also remains a mystery.
The DA has requested the MEC of COGHSTA, Bentley Vass, to urgently facilitate a briefing session between the Frances Baard District Municipality and Phokwane municipality, to provide clarity and transparency in respect of the fire station project.
Disaster management is everybody’s business. Without a functioning fire service, and with the added risk of arson at play, the potential for economic devastation of the Phokwane economy is huge, and not a risk worth taking.