Refuse removal to cost residents more

INLSA

Residents will have to pay seven percent more for refuse removal in order to meet increasing demands of waste removal in the city.

Kwanele Butana

THE City of Cape Town has notified residents that they will be paying over 7 percent more for refuse removal as of next week in order for it to meet the “increasing demands” of waste removal in the “fast-growing city”.

The city said in a statement yesterday the largest portion of its Solid Waste Management Department’s capital budget was spent on the development of new landfill sites and integrated waste transfer stations, but the Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance slammed the city’s “exorbitant” tariff increase.

The separation of recyclable material takes place at these integrated waste transfer stations, which contributes to reducing the overall volume of waste disposed of at landfill sites.

A 7.06 percent tariff increase will see residents paying R85.21 per wheelie bin, while the disposal of general waste will cost R272.98 a ton as the tariff increase is 11.57 percent.

The tariff for the disposal of builders’ rubble remains unchanged at R50 a ton.

“With 3.6 million residents generating between 5 000 and 6 000 tons of domestic and industrial waste a day, the City of Cape Town’s landfill sites are nearing capacity and new sites need to be developed,” said Letitia Bester, head of revenue management at the city’s Solid Waste Management Department.

As older landfill sites reach

capacity, waste has to be transported further away to new landfill sites.

Bester said the city was planning to replace ageing refuse trucks.

“These needs are driving up costs for both the collection and disposal of waste,” said Bester.

The city has allocated subsidies worth R195.6m to assist poor residents in the 2012/13 financial year. Rebates ranging between 100 percent and 25 percent may apply, depending on the value of the property concerned.

Alliance deputy chairman Philip Bam said it was concerned that the cost of municipal services was becoming “exorbitant”. He added: “If (the tariff) goes up, residents and ratepayers might not be able to pay and would therefore lose their possessions (which would be sold to pay the services debt).”

Bam suggested the city reduce its sub-councils by two and use that saving to provide basic services to residents.

“The city does not need to have these fancy frills if we are a poor city and the majority of residents are unemployed,” he said.

For more information on any of the new Solid Waste Management tariffs, contact the city’s call centre at 0860 103 089.

kwanele.butana@inl.co.za