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KENSINGTON is set to receive a R15 million drug rehabilitation facility.

The Public Works Department is building the modern facility for the treatment of drug addicts on premises in Kensington Road.

The identified site once housed the Zola High School in the area. The project is scheduled to commence at the end of February and will hopefully be completed by the end of the year, explains Phumzile Simelela, deputy director for communication and marketing with the Department of Social Development.

The facility will accommodate 20 adults and 20 youths between 16 and 18 years old and the treatment period will range between two and three months.

The centre will also be fitted with hi-tech security surveillance equipment to keep a close eye on patients referred to the facility by a criminal court.

According to a press release issued by the department, the rehabilitation facility is one of five new facilities intended for the province.

It is set to complement the services already provided by the De Novo Drug Treatment Centre in Kraaifontein, which will continue to operate as the only state-run rehabilitation centre in the Western Cape until the end of the year.

The four other facilities will be located in Beaufort West, George and Stellenbosch, which has been earmarked for two. The Public Works Department will be building these facilities over the next two years.

In the face of increasing drug-related crimes and addictions, the new facilities will offer much-needed relief to people who need affordable drug rehabilitation facilities, says Marius Fransman, MEC for Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape in the statement.

Simelele confirms as in the case of De Novo, patients at the Kensington facility will be referred for treatment through a social worker from the Department of Social Development.

"We are currently designing a treatment programme based on best practices in our treatment centres across the country. This specification will only be finalised by the end of March."

All treatment services will be free of charge. Although the centre will cater for referrals from all areas of the city, Kensington in particular will benefit immensely from the introduction of the facility.

"Drug use, as well as the sale of drugs, is a big problem in this su?burb of 23 000-plus residents.

"The building will be secure, as it will be fitted with electronic surveillance equipment.

"It will have motion-sensor lighting ? lights that will switch on automatically at night when it picks up movement.

"It will be provided with recreational facilities, as well as facilities for extra-mural activities.

"The Kensington facility ? and the others that will follow ? will play a key role in helping wean addicts off drugs," says Fransman.

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