July 10, 2007
By Emily Visser
THE war on shack fires may yet be won in Setswetla informal village in Alexandra, where there are up to 60 fires a month. The Alexandra Energy Management and Fire Prevention Project was launched in the settlement by Johannesburg's emergency and disaster management services.
Launched on Sunday 8 July, it is run in conjunction with PEER Africa and ENERKEY.
The pilot project encourages the use of safer appliances, linked to education about energy use and fire safety. It marks the beginning of the rollout and demonstration phase for solutions and interventions, confirmed Mothusi Guy, a PEER Africa representative.
It will be scaled-up in other areas, with a similar venture earmarked for Ivory Park. The focus is on prevention rather than cure and the emphasis is on the link between energy use and poverty. Community members are taught to use energy resources more efficiently and are encouraged to opt for safer energy appliances, such as paraffin stoves and liquid fuel lamps.
The Parasafe paraffin stove, a pressure stove that meets the South African National Standards, or SANS, safety levels set by the South African Bureau of Standards; lamps using oil that will not burn off the wick; and material treated with fire retardant chemicals were demonstrated at the launch.
Villagers gathered eagerly around as a fellow resident, Busisiswe Mavuso, demonstrated how to use the appliances properly and explained the benefits of changing to safer energy sources.
New methods for old tools
Residents were also taught a new way to light a mbaula, proving how a simple change in method can save energy and reduce pollution. A mbaula is a metal drum most often used outside shacks for heating and cooking.
The old, commonly used method involves stacking newspapers and twigs in the bottom of the drum, with the coal on top. It takes almost half an hour before it burns properly, while thick white clouds of smoke billow continuously from the drum as the fire struggles to get oxygen.
However, placing a good layer of coal at the bottom of the drum first and the quicker-burning fuels at the top, leads to better energy consumption and less pollution overall. Within five minutes the new method had a warm, glowing fire going with only a small puff of smoke escaping.
In the first instance, most of the coal - the energy source - "literally goes up in smoke because of the poor mixing of air and fuels", explained Harold Annegarn, a representative from ENERKEY.
Residents were impressed with the different results and vowed to spread the word and make use of the cleaner, more energy efficient method in future.
Community involvement
Community involvement was a key ingredient, confirmed Jomo Mashamaite, the community educator for the emergency management services (EMS) and its pier unit, responsible for public information, education and relations. Pier was established to shift the services' focus from reactive to proactive interventions.
"EMS cannot do it without your involvement," stressed Mashamaite. It runs nine different education programmes focusing on community safety, with various target audiences "to give the community a practical application on safety".
The Alexandra EMS team
One such programme is Cert - community emergency response teams - or "bucket brigades" to help contain fires; others are "stay alive till we arrive", where basic life saving skills and first aid is taught; with "learn not to burn", children are taught about fire hazards and fire safety.
Rosina Mogano has had to watch helplessly as many a neighbours' possessions have gone up in flames. "I have been very close to some of these fires," she says.
Mogano has worked for the Children of Fire project for five years, helping burn victims, but she is now throwing in her weight behind other community leaders to make a change in Setswetla. She will be responsible for community training, promoting the use of the new appliances and fire safety awareness and education in general.
The community has also identified hotspots within Setswetla and appointed leaders living in these areas to help. "A node house leader within the hotspot area encourages others on how to live safely and to do safety audits," Guy explained.
There were about 60 fires in Setswela every month. Since the start of the training programmes, the fire brigade had seen a substantial drop in the number of fires and, in general, fires were contained better, Mashamaite confirmed.
Partnerships
Ultimately, the success of such projects relies on the support and involvement of a number of players, including business and associations involved in energy products and solutions.
In addition to its community outreach, the City looks at building partnerships to maximise its own efforts. Two such partnerships have been established with PEER Africa and ENERKEY.
PEER Africa is at the forefront of research into environmentally sound projects that look at energy efficiency in a holistic manner. Particular emphasis is placed on sustainable development and poverty eradication.
In a baseline study into shack fires in 2004, the organisation found a number of reasons for the high incidence of fire, including the type of fuel and appliances used and the flammability of the building materials used. Illegal electrical connections were another contributing factor. Fire risk was further increased by "the lack of user education", Guy confirmed.
ENERKEY, a joint initiative between the City and the University of Johannesburg sponsored by the University of Stuttgart and other German organisations, has supplied limited bridge funding and other assistance to get the initial pilot project off the ground. The City is seeking national funding and other sponsors.
The initiative focuses on setting up adapted and integrated energy projects as a key factor for sustainable development in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
The Paraffin Association of Southern Africa has also agreed to support the project. Manufacturers of the various products have likewise indicated that special provisions can be made for the poor, including support of community-based small, medium and micro enterprises.
Poverty and energy
In its study, PEER Africa collected old Panda stoves used for cooking. These were in bad condition and extremely dangerous to use. Since then, legislation has outlawed the use of unsafe non-pressure paraffin stoves and heaters, such as the Panda stove.
Unfortunately, poorer, high-risk communities generally cannot afford the safer appliances, with the study finding that one of the biggest obstacles to changing to safer appliances was the lack of cash to buy them.
Johannesburg, PEER Africa and ENERKEY are working to change this, with the launch of the pilot project in Setswela only the beginning.
Many Setswetla residents showed keen interest in the Parasafe stoves and liquid-fuel lamps, but said they couldn't afford then. The stoves cost between R110 and R200, the lamps sell for just under R20 and the liquid fuel costs R20 a litre.
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 |
