Date: 26 July 2021
The Editor
Politicsweb
Dear Sir,
ARTICLE: “DEFECTIVE SAFETY AUDIT FAILED TO PREVENT DEVASTATING FIRE – JACK BLOOM”
JACK BLOOM | 19 JULY 2021
Pursuant to various recent press reports on the response by the Gauteng MEC for Health to Gauteng provincial legislature question No: 5HL081, and having had sight of the MEC’s response, the Bigen Africa Group seeks to clarify its role in Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital occupational safety matters:
1. Bigen Africa Services was appointed on 16 May 2017 as construction project manager, reporting to Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development’s (GDID) internal project manager, tasked to coordinate and integrate the development of costed maintenance implementation plans for all Gauteng Health corridors. Coordination and integration responsibilities were based on technical assessments of Gauteng’s various public health facilities, prepared and reported by professional service providers separately appointed by GDID to do scoping assessments of maintenance and refurbishment requirements.
2. The various assessment teams comprising of various built environment professionals including safety professionals, were separately appointed by, reported to and directed by GDID. As construction project manager, Bigen Africa was responsible to coordinate and integrated the technical assessment process.
3. Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital falls within Gauteng Health’s central corridor.
4. Bigen Africa does not have an internal health and safety capability, was not appointed to, either itself or by specialist sub-contract, to undertake or review any safety reports, including for Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. Any such specialist reports received by Bigen Africa as construction project managers were submitted to GDID for review and further action.
5. The statement that Bigen Africa conducted an OHS assessment, including a fire audit, of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital on 31 October 2017 is incorrect.
6. The envisaged maintenance implementation programme did not progress past its inception stage, and was formally terminated on 12 April 2019 due to a lack of funding for the programme, although project management instructions ended earlier, with a request to Bigen Africa to hand over all documentation in its possession at which stage Bigen’s role as construction project manager and any association that it had with maintenance planning at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital ended.
Yours faithfully,
_____________________
Ian Bettesworth
Chief Risk Officer
on behalf of the Company
