By Anita Dangazele
The Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has promised that residents of the Lapland informal settlement in Kariega affected by floods in June will start being relocated by mid-October. All of them should be in new homes a month later.
The relocation has been plagued by delays and protests, with residents expressing distrust of the municipality.
In June, the municipality evacuated residents from the settlement after reports surfaced of the possible collapse of the privately owned Tiryville Dam. The Lapland community is downstream from the dam.
The municipality was concerned that it could overflow, possibly leading to loss of life.
On 7 July, the flood victims were removed from a temporary shelter and returned to Lapland.
The residents took to the streets demanding answers from President Cyril Ramaphosa, as he had promised they would move from the temporary shelter to temporary houses in Van Rooyen Avenue within 30 days.
The municipality said residents were not kicked out of the shelter – their lease agreement with it had expired.
Residents had been told they would be taken back to Lapland while the municipality waited for approval from the provincial Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism to move them to a site in Van Rooyen Avenue
In July, the department approved their relocation. However, the municipality experienced further delays and was only able to start clearing the land last week, according to human settlements executive director Thabiso Mfeya.
“We eventually obtained permission which came with conditions,” he said. “Even the conditions that it came with necessitated that we get on board an environmental control officer who had to do all the preparatory work to get the necessary permits for us to go on site.”
Mfeya said the relocation of residents will be completed by mid-November.
“By 4 October …we would have the first 20 units erected, which then will inform the installation of services and the beginning [move] of about 150 families.”
The metro’s assistant director of human settlements, Thembakazi Hlela, said 106 Lapland households were previously housed in temporary emergency areas and will soon be relocated to Van Rooyen Avenue.
The temporary emergency areas also include residents from Gro-Gro and Makathiland, all of whom will be moved to Van Rooyen Avenue, which has 154 sites. Additionally, alternative land has been identified in Kamesh, Kariega, to accommodate the remaining residents.
Pictured above: On Monday, Nelson Mandela Bay MMC for Human Settlements Thembinkosi Mafana visited Lapland to update residents about what has been done so far.
Source: Anita Dangazele
