Little did residents know that while Neighbourhood Watch members were battling with the events surrounding the ‘tree tragedy’ in Wilgerood, they could have been victims of another great disaster.
The Record received the following communication from a reliable source who were involved on 16 August.
“What was of great concern for us were the amount of chemical transporters that we had to redirect through the suburbs,” says the source.
“If a Hazmat (hazardous material) incident had to take place in Azalea Street, Ammaryllis Street or Moepel Street it would have been a disaster. Mass evacuations of which there exist no real plan for en an ecological disaster which we can not begin to imagine,” says the worried and angry source.
“In the area everything slopes towards the Wilgespruit and the Wilgespruit in turn runs into the Krokodil River. These chemicals would have ended up in the Hartebeespoort Dam,” he explains.
On the subject of JMPD and EMS’s performance and equipment he also told the Record that with the other big accident on Ruhama and Wilgerood the next day similar events took place.
“JMPD only arrived 45 minutes late (This is such a common occurrence that the Record has come to expect tow truck drivers and neighbourhood watch members to be on scenes trying to maintain order and ensure safety) and with the fire we had that day there were problems with water again. EMS could not use the hydrants due to damage by soil and grass,” said the source in unbelief.
The source said he is planning to take it up with the local head of EMS and to take the issue to a well known investigative television program.
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