Grand-Bay shopkeepers affected by the blast in Grand-Bay Store (GBS) have finally obtained what they have been demanding for more than six weeks. The demolition of the complex finally started at the end of last week. Super Construction Ltd has got the contract for pulling down the building and clearing the ruins. The coastal road should consequently be reopened by the middle of next week.

The shopkeepers must be relieved. After threats of protest marches, they met the president of the Northern District Council last week. The meeting led to an invitation to tender from demolition companies.

Since the blast on 25th July, which killed a young couple, Emmy Ng Yeun and Jean-François Lew Yee Teen, the coastal road has been closed to traffic for security reasons. The government said that the complex had to be demolished before the road could be reopened to avoid any accidents.

The problem was that too much time elapsed before the decision to start the pulling down of GBS. People – particularly tourists - could not have any access to the site and were not interested in hang about a road in such a mess. As a result, businesses did very badly situation and some shops have even had redundancies. Profits have decreased by more than 50%.

The demolition work should last about one month. The association of Grand-Bay shopkeepers is satisfied with the way things are moving. But they have asked for a fire brigade team to be present on the site while the demolition work is taking place to limit dust problems.

Now that things are moving to help Grand-Bay recover its image, the cause of the blast is the only issue which still has to be solved. The reports of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) being contradictory, the government will call upon South African experts to shed light on the cause of the incident. They will have to make it clear whether the blast was an accident due to a gas leak, as stated by the FBI, or explosives as reported by the FSL.