More funds required to complete crematorium
Once completed it will include two halls and two burners.
Work on the Izotsha Memorial Crematorium in Ward 5 has been on hold for some time now due to a lack of funding.
Also, there have been murmurings in the community about the completion date of the new state-of-the-art building, which was started in 2020.
In 2016, the community of Port Shepstone wanted an alternative to the crematorium in Oslo Beach which, at the time, had breakdowns and was non-operational after a fire had damaged the furnace and building. This had resulted in costly trips for families to Durban for the cremation of their loved ones.
Selvan Chetty, a volunteer and director of the Port Shepstone Human Rights Centre, said Izotsha Memorial Crematorium is a joint venture between the private sector and the government.
He explained that private sector partners came in with contributions at huge reductions on professional services such as architectural design, engineering, environmental and construction.
“Ground was broken in August 2020 during Covid-19, after approval of plans and a grant of R10m from government as part of our first phase. As per the plan, the estimated project value is around R55m, and once completed, it will include two halls and two burners; each burner costs about R4m.
As construction of the building started, some environmental issues cropped up, which needed to be dealt with, with further costs.
“Although a geotechnical study was done for the design, the variation arose due to the variability of the depth of stable ground, which was found deeper during the digging of trenches. This necessitated deep-ground foundation beams. From the available budget for planning and construction, the team was able to get the basic structure up with the limited resources. Due to the impact of Covid-19 and the reduced capacity of both the government and private sector to continue to inject funds into the project, it became necessary to look at an alternative funding model, said Chetty.
He added that the developer is currently assisting in looking at funding the project through private equity and a national funding agency to purchase a burner and make the facility functional to the public at its earliest convenience.
“Should the application of R8m become available, the facility will be deemed operational within six months as the only challenge is procuring the cremator or burner, which comes at a huge capital cost.
“This project is a community-driven project supported by a caring local municipality. The estimated value of works undertaken to date is in excess of R16.5m, which amounts to R6.5m injected from the private sector,” said Chetty.
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