Hon Chair, on Tuesday evening residents of the Bluff and Island View in Durban South were rocked by massive explosions and huge blazes at the Island View liquid storage tank zone.
This storage facility is home to more than 1 000 tanks, some of which contain highly volatile liquid fuels. Residents of suburbs and areas in the southern part of Durban in close proximity to all storage tanks and refineries were thereby exposed to many health and environmental risks. It is for this reason that the city should have well-working evacuation and emergency plans in place.
Residents, however, were very critical of the evacuation after the explosions, and they claim that people in the area did not know about an emergency evacuation plan. The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance claims that they have been trying to persuade the city to draw up a clear disaster management plan for 11 years.
A thorough investigation must be conducted into the cause of the explosions and the resultant risks the surrounding communities now face. Action must be taken in order to avoid such incidents from happening again in the future. We in the IFP also urge the relevant authorities to work together with communities in drafting a clear disaster management plan, and making the communities aware of such plans. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.]