PHUTI MOSOMANE
MOP-UP operations and assessments were initiated in the Nelson Mandela Bay on Monday in response to the recent heavy rainfall and flooding over the weekend.
Lawrence Troon, the Member of the Mayoral Council (MMC) for Safety and Security, said that the municipality is collaborating closely with other government stakeholders, such as the Department of Social Development and its agency, SASSA, local businesses, and religious leaders.
Together, they have embarked on extensive clean-up efforts throughout the Metro, aiming to mitigate the impact of the torrential rains and subsequent flooding that transpired over the weekend.
As more than 1,000 residents are still being accommodated in safe locations, the NMBM Human Settlements Directorate has implemented various measures.
These interventions include providing temporary structures for Edongweni families to relocate to Motherwell.
This action will facilitate permanent relocation and repositioning of families, while ongoing assessments are being conducted to identify suitable solutions to address the existing challenges.
“We are pleased with the swift response of all the role players. Social workers are on the ground with our officials to assist our people. That is the main priority right now, we want to speed up our response so that their lives can go back to normal, but we cannot do that without doing the assessments first because the cases are different and we need to respond to each case adequately,” Troon said.
He said parallel to the social interventions being done on Monday, the Infrastructure and Engineering teams were on the ground draining the water and reopening some of the affected roads.
“It might take us a few days to dry everything up and we call on our residents to be patient. But most importantly we are really appealing to our communities to refrain from illegal dumping and inserting foreign objects into our infrastructure as it is during these heavy rains that we see the negative impact caused by such acts,” he said.
Some of the items found in the blocked drains include rubble, nappies, plastics, and cement blocks among other items.
Ward 54 Councillor Lunga Minyayo said victims of the floods received sleeping bags and blankets from the Gift of the Givers and NMBM Disaster Management, toiletries from NMBM Humans Settlements, and there is also transport made available for the affected families.
“We are waiting for mattresses and expecting them this evening. We have seen the spirit of Ubuntu coming through during this time and we thank all the stakeholders that are assisting,” said Minyayo.
The total cost of the damage caused by the rains is still being investigated.
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