Province continues to clear havoc caused by last year’s earthquake
The Department of Local Government and Human Settlements in Bokone Bophirima will continue to provide the necessary support to communities affected by the earthquake which wreaked havoc in most parts of the Province last year in August.
MEC for Local Government and Human Settlements in Bokone Bophirima, Collen Maine said out of 1446 houses that were damaged during the earthquake, over 800 have been repaired as well as other public amenities such as schools and health facilities at a cost of just over R148 million. He said other repair costs were borne by insurance companies, especially on municipal facilities and infrastructure.
“As we continued with assessment of the damaged houses, the list of damaged houses increased from 1446 to 2046 because more people submitted their names but the number was drastically reduced as some of these houses we either damaged prior to the earthquake or only had very minor cracks’’, he said.
MEC Maine said the Department will continue to work with other Departments such as Health, Education and Sports Development, to fast track the process of completely restoring all public amenities such as schools and clinics.
Last year in August, the Province experienced an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale with a depth of 10km. Orkney area was the epicentre. 13 houses were completely evacuated as a result of the earthquake, ten in Stilfontein, two in Khuma, Matlosana local municipality and one in Dinokana, Ramotshere Moiloa local municipality.
The Provincial Executive Committee declared the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district a provincial earthquake disaster in terms of Section 41 of the Provincial Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 which is administered through the Department’s Provincial Management Disaster Centre.
Enquiries:
Ben Bole
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 071 566 1399
E-mail: msbole@nwpg.gov.za
