Flat dwellers to take a step up

Residents of the Suryaville and Fairleigh municipal flats have long demanded a claim to the flats they live in. Their dream is now closer than ever.

Both sets of flats, 72 in Suryaville and 48 in Fairleigh, are owned by the KZN Department of Human Settlements. As such, Newcastle Municipality could not allocate a budget for the project from its own coffers and had to apply for provincial funding.

After a lengthy process, the municipality was finally able to achieve its goal. “Recently, the MEC for Human Settlements, Mr. Ravi Pillay, approved an amount of R 12.5-million for both the Suryaville and Fairleigh flats,” said Chairperson of the Portfolio Standing Committee of Development Planning and Human Settlements, and Ward 3 Councillor, Matthew Shunmugam.

The process began in 2011, and having resolved the issue of funding, the municipality can now focus on delivering on its promise to hand over the flats to residents after revamping them. “The flats will be handed over to the residents, but not before they are in a decent habitable condition. In this regard, we have commissioned a contractor to repair all flats belonging to the municipality, including those in Fairleigh. Once this has been done, we will then transfer the flats to the occupants,” said Mayor, Afzul Rehman.

The municipality has identified numerous obstacles, both social and technical in nature, while carrying out its assessment of work required on the flats. “Proper assessment of each flat had to be done, including soil tests, bearing in mind that the construction of the Suryaville Flats has its own challenges, especially the outer ‘walls’ as compared to the Fairleigh Flats,” said Mr Shunmugam.

Transition camps will be erected on both sites in the near future, to temporarily accommodate residents while work is being done to their flats.