Parklands: a West Coast Suburb of Cape Town

Parklands is a west coast suburb of Cape Town, named after its view of plane lands after Table View. It has expanded rapidly since the 1970s .The region is located along the seafront road. This beautiful coast area is faced with air pollution threats as a result of growth in industrial areas around the region including Chevron Petrol Refinery .The excess amount of carbon emission into the air causes rapid spread of chronicle lung diseases, highly containing risks of allergies and also affecting the skin of residence in the form of eczema. The causes of above problems are as a result of rapid uncontrolled globalisation.

The city of Cape Town extends its borders towards the Parklands side as the population increases. This causes a shift in city planning since areas close to Parklands were designed for industrial purpose. As the city is moving closer to these regions, the numbers of people affected by the mentioned illnesses are on the rise. The situation becomes even worse when the emissions by industries are over the percentage given by the government. The residence of Parklands are aware of the destructive nature of air pollution .In order to raise awareness to both the citizens of Cape Town and the government they have come together under Table View Residents Association(Parklands is a branch of Table View) on 4th of February 2004.

Within their press conference they have made emphasis on how toxic gasses and chemical waste dumped near the region and how it even destroyed plantation life. They stated that there is an extreme rise among kids who suffer from asthma and parents are often afraid of worse lung diseases. Senior citizens in the region are also suffering from diseases caused by air pollution. The members of the association also complained about the amount of money they have to spend on medical insurance to secure their health and are extremely dissatisfied that industries are allowed to poison the individuals for profit.

In the same year the association drew up a petition to raise a greater awareness .Their voice was finally heard by the City of Cape Town municipality. After certain analysis and investigation in the region, government added few laws regarding industries and their emission. Stricter laws were placed. However up till today there are still concerns over the implications of these acts by the residence.

We have conducted an interview with the residence to see if these issues were really a problem for the residence. Our aim was to see the general awareness of illnesses present in the area thus we tried to gather even number of people from all age groups.

Around 80% of the interviewees stated that they have noticed diseases like asthma, eczema and hay fever among the residence of the region. With regards to the source of these diseases, almost 95% of the interviewees stated that industrial areas around Parklands are the number one contributor to these illnesses. The awareness was especially evident among the age group 55 and above. They have also added on during the interview that health conditions in the region were much better in the past than now.

According to the study, undertaken by the University of Cape Town's Lung Institute, a staggering 2 146 (68 per cent) out of 3 162 northern suburbs children, who live and are schooled near the Chevron Petrol Refinery, said they were living with a brother, sister or parent who suffered from some sort of lung disease.

Of the 3 162 children interviewed, 23, 7 per cent or 749 confirmed that they themselves had asthma, while 1 043 said they had experienced asthma symptoms such as wheezing or a whistling chest in the last tear.

The prevalence of asthma and hay fever in the area was found to be higher than that reported in a previous International Study of Asthma and Allergy in Childhood (ISAAC) study in the city and is in fact in the high range of results reported globally using the

The study found that petrochemical emissions carried "at least" the same weight of blame for the asthma plague as having an adult at home who smokes.

A question with surprising results, proved that even though residences where not chronically ill, 75% of the interviewees do suffer from shortage of breathe during certain times of the year. They stated that shortage of breath happens at random times of the year. Around 50% of the interviewees stated that sometimes there is an unusual smell in the air that causes extreme discomfort.

In a question where we asked individuals if globalization has impact on this, we have received some surprising detailed information. Around 45% stated that there is an indirect coloration between globalization and spread of diseases. They have added on that establishment of factories around the region is as a result of globalization and thus naturally contribute to the air pollution. A very mere percentage of 15% of interviewees stated that there is absolutely no link between globalization and air pollution of Parklands. The rest were very assertive that the air pollution was as a result of globalization. They also added on that even though globalization brought along its benefits it also had its negatives.

Our research also aimed at whether residences that are exposed to these unwanted conditions are able to afford the cost of health care they need. Around 67% of the interviewees stated that they have access to healthcare but are complaining about the costs. The rest are fine with the costs of the healthcare facilities. However there was a common complaint by all interviewees and that was the rise in prices of healthcare.

The association wants to limit the number one pollutant of the region, Chevron’s daily sulphur dioxide emission from 22 tons per day to 9.2 tons. After certain governmental procedures the law was finally passed.

The actions of the government in the region seems to be only limited to controlling businesses. We have posed a question to our interviewees whether they have heard of any actions of government involving investigation on health conditions. All of the interviewees stated that they have not heard of anything done by government regarding the health of the area. Many of them also wish for the government to do free medical testing and free provision of medications for those who need.

Globalization has always been present but the speed of it has never been fast than before. Even though it brings along many of its advantages along there are also disadvantages. One of them is air pollution .After intensive research and collection of data it can be stated that air pollution in Parklands is the number one contributor to diseases such as asthma, hay fever and eczema .It was also noticed that other diseases that involved shortage of respiration were common in the area. The air pollution in the region can be linked to globalisation since factories and industries, example would be Chevron Petrol Refinery, are working more than before to meet with the demands. This means more carbon emission into the air which is the number one cause for the health issues of the region.