The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has appointed a team that will look at the damage that was caused by the fire in Parliament.
Minister Patricia de Lille said after the fire on January 2 a team of structural, civil, electrical and mechanical engineers conducted an assessment of the damage to the buildings, after the National Assembly and Old Assembly Chamber were affected by the blaze.
It found that the buildings were affected by the fire on several floors.
This led to the area being cordoned off because it was unsafe.
The department then got another professional team to look at the further assessment of the damage.
De Lille said the National Treasury agreed to speed up the process to get the team on the ground.
“DPWI’s Bid Evaluation Committee recommended Coega be appointed for the independent assessment. In close consultation with National Treasury, on Friday, February 11, 2022, DPWI appointed the Coega Development Co-operation to perform assessments of the fire damaged buildings at Parliament. Following the DPWI Engineering Services’ recommendation that specialised structural engineering assessment work be undertaken in order for the buildings to be made safe for access, a scope of works was generated from the DPWI’s engineering services team for this work,” she said.
The team will look at the extent of the damage.
The team is expected to make an initial assessment report within one week.
After that a detailed assessment report would be conducted and it would also look at a number of areas during its work.
This would include the extent of the structural damage and the estimate for the rehabilitation project and long-term restorative measures.
POLITICAL BUREAU