Wentworth residents protest outside Engen refinery this week.PICTURE :Bongani Mbatha /African News Agency (ANA)
Durban - COMMUNITIES around the Engen refinery in the South Durban deserve an explanation directly from the government and all involved, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (Deff) portfolio committee said yesterday.
After a briefing by various stakeholders on the explosion at the Engen refinery last Friday morning, the committee said it was expecting action from the government, where possible and, where there was a need for explanation, it should be given directly to the affected communities.
The eThekwini Municipality presented its report to the portfolio committee and said the fire reportedly erupted in a pressurised diesel process unit in the North Complex, possibly caused by a dip in electricity supply that had occurred the previous day.
“This is however to be confirmed by way of a thorough independent investigation. A full report will be provided by the refinery within 14 days as prescribed. The Employment and Labour Department will ascertain health and safety of the employees while Human Settlements will investigate the effects of the fire on the neighbouring human settlements,” read the city’s report.
It said six employees were affected by the explosion, and were treated and discharged from hospital. An 83-year-old and a 3-year-old resident were treated for shock and discharged.
A block of nearby flats had six units with about 28 inhabitants affected who were relocated to two nearby B&Bs for five days. Afterwards Human Settlement will move them to the decanting units, which are being refurbished.
“The plant has been shut down pending the outcome of the investigation for the safety of employees and surrounding communities. The Employment and Labour department issued Engen with a prohibition order and demarcated a 20-metre no-go buffer area around the affected portion of the facility,” said the municipality.
Portfolio Committee chairperson Fikile Xasa noted the establishment of a joint operations committee made up of eThekwini metro, Deff; Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Cogta, Health and Labour to monitor the process.
“The committee hopes that this structure’s work will lead to a positive outcome for the affected communities. We believe that all three spheres of government with responsibility related to this incident should follow up on all the issues arising from today’s meeting and take the necessary action,” said Xasa.
He said the committee is planning to schedule a follow-up meeting to determine what the government has done regarding this incident and in interacting with the affected communities.
The committee also plans to conduct an oversight visit to Durban as soon as possible, to enable it to better understand the situation and to engage with the affected communities.
There have been more than 62 major incidents in the South Durban Basin from 2000 to June 2018. These include fires and explosions. South Durban environmentalist Desmond D’Sa said the overarching problem was “an entirely inadequate national and provincial regulatory system for greenhouse gases, and inappropriately low national objectives for lowering greenhouse gas emissions”.
“Just one illustration of state failure is the KwaZulu-Natal provincial Environment department’s reaction to the Engen fire. It is clear that there is no attention to Engen’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, which is for some reason not considered a factor contributing to ‘air quality’ even though CO2 and methane are considered pollutants in even the United States (notwithstanding four years of a climate-denialist administration),” said D’Sa.
He said the transport of Engen’s refined fuel was worthy of another discussion because of:
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