Sizwe samaYende
16 August 2005
Mpumalanga is now able to respond promptly to disasters such as fires and floods after buying a R1.6-million state-of-the-art mobile disaster facility.
The disaster mobile centre is fitted with internet facilities, a weather station and a system to guide aircraft.
Local government and housing MEC Jabu Mahlangu said in a statement on Monday that the mobile centre would be dispatched to affected areas all over the province.
The weather station in the mobile centre can predict weather for the coming three day and give current weather conditions, wind speed and direction, humidity, temperature and barometric pressure.
It also has a public address system that is audible up to a distance of three kilometres. This system will help in crowd control and mass evacuation situations.
Mahlangu said the centre would enable the department to link up all resources needed when disasters strike. "We are aware of the importance of being able to respond to any disasters with speed," he said.
"The seconds after a disaster strikes are critical, and if you have to wait for assistance from far away areas outside the province, then this can have dire consequences."
He said that the mobile centre would be linked to other district, provincial and national centres.
The province is also looking into building a provincial disaster management centre next to the government complex in Nelspruit.
Source: BuaNews
