The main causes of air pollution in Khayelitsha are to be identified as part of a major survey being planned by the City of Cape Town.
"This pilot project is probably the first of its kind in South Africa and will help the city understand the dynamics of air pollution in informal settlements," said James Vos, Chairman of the City's Health Portfolio Committee.
In a quarterly report on air quality management, city health officials told the portfolio committee that the Khayelitsha Air Pollution Strategy (KAPS) Project was due to start soon and would include door to door interviews with residents.
The unsightly brown haze caused by air pollution and which hovers over Cape Town mainly during winter, is the focus of a scientific research study.
"We are extremely concerned about the poor air quality in informal areas as identified in the Brown Haze Project.
"The KAPS project is an important first step in determining the actions to be taken significantly to improve air quality management in Cape Town's informal settlements," said Vos.
Specialised air quality monitoring equipment is being purchased by the city for the roll-out of the project.
The KAPS is a partnership between the city and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Cape Town.
The project is funded by the Poverty Alleviation programme of the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
It aims to improve air quality in informal areas of the city.
It will involve a detailed survey of households, businesses and other sources of air pollution in Khayelitsha in order to establish an emissions database and analyse future scenarios of air quality
The committee was also updated on progress since March 2007 regarding implementation of the Air Pollution Control By-law and the diesel vehicle testing programme.
According to the city, from January to March 2007, 614 visits were carried out by the health air quality control unit across the Cape metropole.
This resulted in 49 warnings being issued for contraventions of by-laws and 13 certificates being approved for the installation of new fuel burning appliances.
During the same period, random tests were conducted on 2311 vehicles by city health's diesel vehicle testing teams.
Of these 31 failed to comply with the provisions of the by-laws, as a result 31 repair notices were issued and 30 were summons served.
Source: BuaNews
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