October 20, 2003
By Bontle Moeng
TEN new ambulances - of a fleet of 40 - were officially handed over to the Executive Mayor of Johannesburg, Amos Masondo, at a ceremony in Soweto on Friday 17 October by the Gauteng provincial government.
Receiving the vehicles from Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa and Gauteng MEC for Health, Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, the Johannesburg mayor praised the work of the emergency personnel. "We salute the dedication and courage of al the men and women in the Emergency Management Services (EMS). Yours is not an ordinary job but a calling."
Masondo referred to recent negative media reports on the poor state of the emergency services and said this was a cause for concern. "Every time we hear of a long response time, a fire that has raged through an informal settlement, or anything that suggests a failure to deliver a quality service, we fret and agonise," Masondo said.
With the new fleet, which will consist of 40 ambulances and 10 response vehicles, the old fleet could be withdrawn from the service. A further five ambulances will be delivered this month, with 12 being handed over in November, nine in December and the final four ambulances to be hand over to the City of Johannesburg in January.
The ambulances will be leased on a full maintenance contract with Fleet Africa for three years through a joint agreement between the Gauteng Department of Health and the City of Johannesburg. The contract, which covers maintenance, rental, insurance and fleet management services, is worth about R10-million a year. The Gauteng Department of Health will supplement the budget provided to the City of Johannesburg EMS to cover the lease and operational costs of these vehicles.
The new ambulances are part of an ongoing programme to upgrade and improve the emergency services of the City. Sites had been selected to build six new fire stations, the mayor said. Four had been completed during the past year, in Diepkloof and Dobsonville, Soweto, in Orange Farm, to the south of the Johannesburg region and in Lawley, near Ennerdale at a cost of R7-million. The other two fire stations will be built in Protea, Soweto, and Ruimsig, to the west of Johannesburg, at a cost of R2,5-million each.
In Roodepoort, a Be Safe Centre was built at a cost of R1,5-million to teach children the basics of safety management. "They are taught how to avoid fire disasters in a proactive manner but they're also taught how to deal with a fire once it occurs."
"New recruits are also being incorporated into the EMS. To date we have about 1 000 fully operational emergency personnel. These will address the emergency situations on a much broader scale," Masondo said.
The newly acquired equipment and facilities would be used for a variety of fire fighting duties such as tactical planning, fire fighting in the informal settlements, heavy motor vehicle rescue, high rise building fire fighting and safer access in structural unsafe buildings during fires, the mayor said.
"The City of Johannesburg is confident the new fleet of ambulances will ensure an improved service to the public and restore the moral of the emergency management personnel," Masondo added.
The handing over of the ambulances, on the occasion of observing World Trauma Day, was part of a government programme to continue to improve the quality of services in the province, MEC Ramokgopa said.
"The new emergency response fleet will boost the country's 2010 World Cup soccer bid, as it indicates the province's ability to respond quickly to disasters," the MEC said.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
