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New Emergency Shelter at Alexandra Transit Village
The Alexandra Renewal Project transit facilities are a fundamental
part of the development process in Alexandra. The transit village was
built to enable infrastructure to be developed in densely populated
areas. As structures are demolished, households are temporarily
accommodated in the transit facility while new infrastructure goes up.
Such households are later moved to new housing projects.
However, these are not the only circumstances in which temporary
housing is needed in Alexandra. Whenever there is a disaster in Alex,
such as fire or flood, displaced families need to be accommodated
elsewhere as a matter of urgency.
The dilemma for the ARP is how to assist humanely in a crisis without
compromising the original purpose of the transit village. At one point
the rate of ARP delivery was almost shut down when the provision of
emergency accommodation within the transit facility more-or-less
became the priority. It was clear that a distinction needed to be made
between temporary and emergency housing, and that a solution must be
found for the latter.
Surprisingly the solution emerged within the Alexandra Transit Village
itself. In the north-west corner of the ATV there is a recently
constructed storage facility that readily lends itself to adaptation
as overnight crisis accommodation. Thus the ATV will continue to
provide temporary shelter for families struck by disaster, but now
without compromising ARP delivery schedules.
The conversion will be relatively quick as the superstructure is
already in place, only the interior of the storage facility needs to
be adapted to make it habitable and safe for human occupation.
Ventilation within the building will be upgraded and smoke detection
equipment will be installed, as well as exterior paving and general
lighting.
The 1542 m2 building will have 76 rooms, each of which can accommodate
2 people. Rooms will be unfurnished as people will bring whatever
possessions they have salvaged with them. Each room will have a plug,
a light and a pay-as-you-need electrical connection.
Separate ablution facilities for males and females will be
constructed, in addition to shared cooking facilities. There will also
be laundry facilities with hot water and a drying yard, as well as an
office and storeroom. Once the development is complete, it will be
managed by Region 7 Housing.
This new crisis shelter will relieve pressure on the existing transit
facility while meeting a need for immediate temporary accommodation in
the aftermath of a disaster. The Alexandra Renewal Project is
providing a short-term living environment that is safe and secure for
displaced people while they pick up the pieces of their lives and
re-establish themselves.
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