[Seoul District News] Dobong-gu Disaster Relief Fund to be Provided to About 119 Households, 2 Million KRW per Flood-Damaged Household... Yeongdeungpo-gu Conducts Electric Safety Inspection for 45 Aging Apartment Complexes
Dobong-gu Mayor Oh Eon-seok presided over an emergency meeting with related departments to prepare heavy rain countermeasures on August 9, 2022. (Oh Eon-seok, Dobong-gu Mayor, is on the far right in the photo)
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dobong-gu (Mayor Oh Eon-seok) has decided to promptly provide disaster relief funds to residents affected by flooding caused by record-breaking heavy rains that began on August 8.
The district decided to use its own budget to provide the relief funds first, as waiting for city funding allocation could delay the support. The plan is to distribute the disaster relief funds before Chuseok.
Approximately 119 households in Dobong-gu are eligible for the disaster relief funds, with each household receiving 2 million KRW. The funds will be given to actual residents of the flooded households, based on the assessment that the living space was flooded and unusable without repairs.
Oh Eon-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu, stated, “Typically, the disaster relief funds are shared and provided by Seoul City and Dobong-gu, but considering the residents currently facing difficulties, we decided to use our district’s contingency funds to provide support first. We will ensure through relevant departments that the funds are distributed swiftly before Chuseok.”
Choi Ho-gwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District, is discussing the restoration progress with firefighters at an apartment in Mullae-dong that experienced power and water outages due to a fire on the 20th of last month.
Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) is launching a full-scale project to prevent power outages in apartment complexes caused by aging facilities or flooding.
Following a series of power outages in apartment complexes due to fires, aging equipment, and flooding in the area, the district plans to establish fundamental measures to minimize residents’ inconvenience.
Electricity is an essential part of modern life. Especially in apartment complexes, power outages cause major disruptions, as water pumps and elevators stop working, making living conditions unbearable.
However, many old apartment buildings are poorly maintained due to reconstruction plans or other reasons, and emergency generators often fail to function properly due to insufficient capacity.
Therefore, the district will conduct a comprehensive electrical safety inspection of 45 apartment complexes over 30 years old by September 23, aiming to actively prevent power outage incidents.
The inspection team, composed of officials from the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation and related departments, will check the aging of electrical equipment (transformers, switchboards, distribution boards), the adequacy of transformer capacity, the condition of emergency backup generators, and measure leakage currents in indoor electrical facilities.
If violations or deficiencies are found during the inspection, the district will recommend facility improvements such as reinforcement or electrical capacity expansion. Failure to take necessary measures may result in fines up to 2 million KRW under the Apartment Housing Management Act.
Additionally, management of electrical facilities in basement floors will be strengthened. For about 50 complexes at high risk of flooding, on-site inspections will be conducted. Where possible, electrical facilities will be relocated above ground, and where relocation is difficult, flood barriers and automatic pump systems will be installed around electrical equipment to prevent power outages caused by flooding.
Furthermore, the district has designated the improvement of aging electrical facilities as a priority support target for next year’s ‘Apartment Housing Management Support Project’ and plans to actively encourage more apartment complexes to participate.
Lee Si-woo, Director of the Housing Department, said, “Apartment complexes are densely populated high-rise buildings with many children and elderly residents who find evacuation difficult. We judged that fire and power outage incidents could lead to greater damage, which is why we are conducting this safety inspection. Through the inspection, we will thoroughly identify vulnerable areas threatening residents’ safety and take prompt action.”
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