Swansea to pay its respects on Grenfell Tower anniversary

SWANSEA’S Guildhall is to light up in green on Sunday as the city remembers those who died at Grenfell Tower exactly three years ago.

In previous years, the disaster which claimed the lives of 72 people has been commemorated with an event in the city centre. Due to Coronavirus, this year people are being asked to remember from home those who died in the fire on June 14, 2017.

The decision to light-up the Guildhall echoes commemorations in London where tower blocks will also be lit-up in green while the bells of St Paul’s and Southwark cathedrals will toll 72 times in memory of each of those who died.

Andrea Lewis, Cabinet Member for Homes and Energy, said: “Sunday will be a day of remembrance for all those individuals who died that day, for those who survived, for the families and for the emergency services who were on the scene that terrible night.

“Although this disaster made headlines around the world, the real story of Grenfell since has been one of a community coming together to make sure those who died are not forgotten and those who remain have the strength to continue their fight to make sure the lessons are learned.”

She added: “Since that event, our housing teams have continued to work hard to reassure tenants of the high standards of fire safety we have in place at our high rise properties.

“We are in the middle of a £3m programme of retro-fitting sprinkler systems in people’s homes in our high-rise properties to provide additional fire precaution measures.

“All the design and installation work has been done by our building services’ department. So far we’ve installed sprinkler systems at Jeffrey’s Court, both high rise buildings at Matthew Street and all three buildings at Clyne Court.

“Work is ongoing at Rheidol Court with completion due in the coming months. We’ll then start on the high rise buildings at Griffith John Street.  The two high rise buildings at Croft Street will have sprinklers installed as part of the full refurbishment of the two blocks and design work has already started.”

The cladding was found to be the main cause of the fire in Grenfell Tower but the Council was quick to reassure residents in Swansea that where cladding is featured it is safe and not the same kind that was used at Grenfell Tower.