WATCH: MEC says ‘special protocol’ needed in events like #DurbanFire

Officials visited the site to review the damage.

A SPECIAL protocol is needed to marshal resources in the event of major emergencies like the #DurbanFire, according to economic development, tourism and environmental affairs MEC Sihle Zikalala.

View more photos from the tour

MEC Zikalala, with governmental and municipal officials toured the facility today, 28 March, to review the damage and discuss ways to prevent the recurrence of such a blaze.

“Situations like these require that we take split-second decisions, it is thus our view that, going forward, a special protocol needs to be developed which will allow us to marshal resources in the shortest time possible. We must however stress that this process should not undermine or disregard our normal supply chain management processes but should serve to quicken the pace of procuring critical services where lives and property are at stake,” said MEC Zikalala.

“We thank the fire fighters in particular and all other government entities and organs that responded in time and worked together in ensuring they stopped the fire.”

He added that officials did not want to speculate on the cause of the fire until a thorough investigation was completed.

Read: Bluff lensman’s fire photos blaze a trail

Transnet Properties chief executive Thabo Lebelo said the warehouse, which is owned by Transnet and rented to another company. As the owners of the property, he confirmed they would be investigating what was stored there prior to the fire and what fire safety amenities were in place.

Zikalala said at an inspection of the aftermath of #DurbanFire that the disaster has had an economic effect on the province and country as a whole.

According to Lebelo, the warehouse, one was one of the hemisphere’s largest at 210,000-m2 could be seen from the moon. It was a storage facility for imported and exported goods and its loss could have far-reaching impacts.

https://youtu.be/TcvYI9fagyQ

“The damage is quite serious. This disaster has affected the economy of this province and the country.

But we are concerned about the lives of the people. We want to assure all members of the community, particularly in the south, that we are attending to the situation,” said Zikalala.

Read: What we know about #DurbanFire

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