Cape Town – Residents in Plumstead are visualising a goal for the railway station and hopes officials will come on board to put the plan into action.
Resident Elena Fedele hopes to start getting the youth together to paint the subway stations.
“The whole station looks tired and rundown with vagrants in their corners. From my experience, as much as the council tries to keep the area clean and safe, there are always areas for improvement.”
She said it's been a goal to repaint the subways in Plumstead for a while now. The youth and community should get together to paint colourful happy scenes with their own designs either with paint or spray paint over it.
“We live in uncertain times and now more than ever with Covid-19. This idea is a drop in the ocean but if we want to change our society and its mentality, we have to start somewhere. We can meet like-minded people and lift each other's spirits. For people using the trains daily, hopefully clean subways would be a small positive to them to carry with for the day,” she said.
Fedele said she feels fed up when it comes to putting plans into action due to a lack of response from the necessary officials. The red tape is exhausting. And good people give up because the bureaucracy is just too much.
Metrorail Western Cape acting regional manager Raymond Maseko said: “I would like to assure Ms Fedele that we have successfully worked with many communities (including ratepayers associations and neighbourhood watches) to help us improve our service offering to commuters.
“Prasa has always been eager to partner with the communities as we often serve the same communities. It is our view that communities have to take ownership of these facilities and such initiatives are more than welcome.”
He said the subway at Plumstead station is under Prasa management and the nearby other subway is a City of Cape Town facility providing street-to-street access. The City is a key and valuable stakeholder and we enjoy a good working relationship.
“Fedele is welcome to engage with Plumstead station manager directly to discuss ideas and options for collaboration. We will consider how these interventions can enhance or augment our own maintenance projects,” he said.
Fedele also suggested that concrete dustbins be put around the area to discourage littering.
She said: “Taking pride in our community and its infrastructure falls on the shoulders of all.”
City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport Felicity Purchase said: “It must be noted that the subways are all covered by historic agreements which apportioned maintenance and renewal responsibilities between Prasa and the Council. Where we encounter grey areas, we revert to the historic agreements.
“Any community initiative needs to be cleared by the relevant authority for any specific subway. This is to comply with relevant safety protocols.”
Cape Argus