The State Government has been urged to identify apartment buildings in South West Sydney that contain the same flammable aluminium cladding found in London’s Grenfell Tower after the fire in which 80 people died.
Labor’s innovation and better regulation spokesperson Yasmin Catley joined forces with local MP Anoulack Chanthivong to call on the government to get cracking.
“South West Sydney has witnessed a high-rise boom in recent years,’’ the Member for Macquarie Fields said.
“We need to get to the bottom of this cladding issue to ensure any dangerous or illegal material is identified and replaced as quickly as possible.
“The Berejiklian Government is content to let South West Sydney do more than its fair share of meeting Sydney’s housing demand and take billions of dollars of stamp duty in return, yet doesn’t care about people’s safety.
“It’s appalling,’’ Mr Chanthivong said.
“People may be living in potential death traps, but this government doesn’t have the decency to let people know the size of the problem, where it is, and what they are going to do about it.’’
Fuelling concerns that lives could be lost in the event of a repeat of the Grenfell Tower disaster here was that a specialised aerial firefighting truck – the Bronto – was removed from St Andrews fire station last year.
The Bronto is capable of reaching 37m or up to six floors of an apartment building.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“I call on the Government to fix the cladding issue urgently and reinstate the Bronto firefighting truck to St Andrews Fire Station as a priority,” Mr Chanthivong said.[/social_quote]
Labor also says that secrets documents obtained by the opposition show that in 2015 the government was concerned that any intervention could create red tape and stifle innovation.
“The Berejiklian Government should have known about this issue for more than two years,’’ says Yasmin Catley.
“It has taken the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower inferno in London to get them to do anything.
“We still don’t know where these buildings are, and who will pick up the bill to make sure they are safe,’’ Ms Catley said.
