Two local organisations have been recognised for their work by a prestigious international association.
The Downtown Association IDA has awarded the Downtown Achievement Pinnacle Awards to the Greater Tygerberg Partnership GTP and to the Voortrekker Road Corridor Improvement District VRCID for their work and initiatives in the area.
Each year, the IDA, which is based in Washington DC in the United States, recognises outstanding projects by international organisations as winners of the Downtown Achievement Awards.
The Downtown Achievement Award is bestowed annually upon projects which identify improvements to urban centres by dedicated organisations around the globe. The industry’s highest recognition, the Pinnacle Award, represents the most creative and inspiring innovations in urban place management. The awards are sponsored by Grow with Google.
The GTP won for their Sha’p Left Community Primary Care Health Care Hub, while the VRCID won for their Datadriven Urban Management and Public Safety.
GTP
The GTP’s Sha’p Left healthcare hub in Bellville provides quality, affordable, accessible healthcare to commuters and residents in the area.
Located opposite the Bellville public transport interchange, the healthcare hub is sponsored by the Cipla Foundation and was enabled by the City. The Hub, constructed from three repurposed shipping containers, was opened formally in November 2019. It provides affordable and accessible primary healthcare to commuters and residents in Bellville.
Warren Hewitt, GTP’s CEO says, “This project is an example of how the public sector can partner with the private sector to achieve shared goals. By delivering the Sha’p Left Nursing Hub in partnership with the City of Cape Town, we were able to put Cape Town, and Bellville, on the map in terms of global best practice in urban management. We are very pleased with this award and will continue to strive for the same levels of excellence, in partnership with the City and other stakeholders in the future.”
The centre is run by Sister Mandisa Swart, a nursing sister who has taken up the challenge of ensuring it remains open and operational even during the Covid19 pandemic.
The Sha’p Left Community Healthcare Hub is open from 09:00 to 17:00 every weekday and from 08:30 to 13:30 on Saturdays. In addition to eye tests and diagnostics, the centre also offers primary health care treatments, HIV, TB and other diagnostic tests. It also includes a chronic medication dispensary, which offers a more efficient way for people with chronic diseases to collect their prescriptions.
VRCID
The VRCID also won the highest recognition, the Pinnacle Award, for their Data driven Urban Management and Public Safety.
The VRCID was established in 2012 to provide topup urban management, public safety and social upliftment services within an eight square kilometre urban corridor in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. It is the largest CID in the city and arguably the most successful.
The organisation has won the Pinnacle Award numerous times in the past for various of their projects. This year they won for how they harness technological systems in fighting crime.
Over the past few years, the VRCID has invested extensively in advanced technology to extend its surveillance. The database enables the VRCID to collate, analyse and respond immediately to the security, urban cleansing and social development needs of the area under its management. Behavioural analytics can support predictive policing to track negative behaviour, proactively identify hotspots of criminal activity and respond quickly to events as they are happening on the ground.
The VCRID’s CEO, Derek Bock, says they have numerous systems in place to keep an eye on crime.
“The project comprises a centralised control centre at the VRCID offices, a network of 77 cameras, including 15 licence plate recognition cameras, 24hour monitoring and a team of skilled public safety officers who are deployed to respond to incidents when reported.”
He says they’re “humbled” to receive the recognition.
“This award is not only for the VRCID, but for all CID levy payers who pay towards our efforts to make Bellville and Parow CBD areas cleaner, safer and more sustainable. The hard work that went into the installation of the 77 CCTV cameras within the VRCID has been paid off with this award.”
He says their work is never done.
“Together with our partners at the police and the City law enforcement agencies, we will continue to deliver on our mandate of providing additional services to that of the City and Police.”
Posted in Tyberburger.
