Boost for firefighting in small towns

AFTER transferring its duties of fire and disaster management to its nine local municipalities, the Cacadu District Municipality has set aside R15.318-million towards building new fire stations in several small town.

Presenting the district municipality's 2014-15 budget at a council meeting yesterday, mayor Khunjuzwa Kekana said the district would also train firefighters of the various municipalities.

She said R1-million would be pumped into the construction of the Hankey fire station, which was currently being built, and R4.5-million would be allocated towards building a new fire station in Sanddrif, Koukamma.

"The construction of the fire station in Somerset East has already commenced. An amount of R1.3-million has been set aside to complete that project," Kekana said.

"Currently, the budget for the fire station at Bushmans River Mouth is R2.4-million. However, funds are needed to realise this project.

"The district will be procuring fire equipment and embarking on training of the firefighters of the municipality [which] will amount to R1.3-million.

"It will also include the standardisation of fire hydrants. An amount of R1.8-million has been set aside for this," she said. – Rochelle de Kock