PORT ELIZABETH - NMB MUNICPALITY RELEASE LATEST UPDATES ON COVID-19 OPERATIONS IN THE METRO

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Acting City Manager Noxolo Nqwazi provided an update regarding the streamlined municipal operations to deal with issues pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In the first instance, our Disaster Management Centre has been operational since Wednesday and as part of the directives from the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, we have put plans in place to make sure we respond to the call of government and ensure we provide temporary accommodation to the homeless.

"Currently we identified 5 municipal halls in Walmer, Motherwell, Uitenhage and Korsten where we are going to place the homeless.

"We had to put a plan together at the last minute and are now busy to hastily implement it to ensure that we get the halls to a state where people can stay in it.

"That was done throughout the day yesterday. It is not about identifying the centre, it is also about identifying people who are going to clean the shelters on a daily basis on two rotational shifts.

"We also need to ensure that there are mattresses, blankets and food for the people. So, I think it is the rest of the value chain that has delayed the process. We can confirm that the first centre today is up and running. And we hope that, in our timeline, all the people are off the streets by end of business tomorrow," Mrs Nqwazi said.

Temporary accommodation

The provision of temporary accommodation for the homeless is at an advanced stage with the Jarman Hall, Daku Hall, NU2 Community Hall, Babs Madlakane Hall and Walmer Town Hall.

The South African Police Services assisted with the picking up of homeless people and taking them to the Walmer Town Hall. Our teams disinfected and cleaned the identified community halls. The first community hall opened today was the Walmer Town Hall. Any overflow of homeless individuals will be accommodated at the Jarman Hall in Schauderville.

Tomorrow the other four allocated facilities will be filled.

Water delivery update

The good news is that we have successfully repaired the 700mm water main early this morning . We started pumping water to Chelsea reservoir and is at 11% , some areas which previously were affected are beginning to get water. The aforementioned areas beginning to get water are Westering, Linton Grange, parts of Kabega Park.

Gradual restoration will be achieved in most of the areas and most areas will be restored by at least tomorrow morning.

Community relief

The municipality unblocked 38 717 blocked electricity pre-paid meter accounts. During the lockdown period residents are requested not to flock to municipal offices to pay accounts and to adhere to governments social distancing guidelines. A few days after the lockdown period, residents will be require to make arrangements or to settle their accounts.

N95 masks needed for medical staff

Medical staff are running out of N95 masks as the demand from the general public outstrip supply, putting medical personnel who truly need these masks to perform medical procedures.

The municipality is in the process of assisting by moving the N95 masks, procured for the institution, to where it is most needed.

Drunk and driving arrest

A 33-year old man was arrested for allegedly operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and reckless and negligent driving in the Kuyga area.