Cape Town – The Grabouw community got an over R2 million boost to fight illegal dumping and improve quality of service delivery from the local municipality.
Theewaterskloof Municipality launched a new refuse truck on Monday as an addition to the three existing trucks operating in the vicinity.
The R2.1 million worth machine will be used for door-to-door refuse which operates throughout the week.
Residents warmly welcomed this, saying it was much needed as the issue of illegal dumping had started escalating in some parts of Grabouw.
“This will definitely reduce illegal dumping and ensure refuse is collected on time. We are glad the municipality noted the need and swiftly responded before it could get out of hand.
“I believe it was frustration over uncollected refuse that led to the recent scourge of illegal dumping as we had experienced unexpected delays with truck, either said to be broken or busy in other areas, leaving many stuck with garbage at home. I am so happy for the new truck," said Charlene Frank.
Another resident, Jonathan Abrahams, said his area was lucky to experience less dumping and hoped the truck “will prevent it from happening. The municipality is trying its best to bring services to the people but the problem starts with us, if we can now do our part to make sure no paper lands in the streets we could have the cleanest town. From what I have seen, Grabouw isn’t yet infested with littering issues and this truck offers us an opportunity to keep the good standard.
Director of community services Wilfred Schrevian Evan Solomons-Johannes encouraged residents to help in fighting against littering and dumping. He invited them to partner with the municipality in clean-up campaigns and to make use of the weekly refuse collection service to discard of waste.
"Illegal dumping can decrease property values and attract crime and grime to an area, (and) also causes spontaneous fires.
"Waste pollutes the environment and places a huge financial burden on the municipality and the ratepayer as critical funding for other service delivery issues must be redirected towards clean-up initiatives.
“Dumping tends to attract mosquitoes and other infectors such as rats which spread diseases and health risks. An appeal is made to residents to report any person who illegally dumps refuse, rubble, building material and any other materials,” explained Solomons-Johannes.
He said this will reduce the challenges inflicted by the rapid population growth in the community.
“There are an increase in erecting illegal structures putting additional pressures and demands on the provision of basic service delivery like solid waste management. This has a knock-on effect on the normal provision of door-to-door refuse collection as services are redirected to informal settlements.”
Dumping can be reported at 028 214 3300 or 080 021 4730.
Weekend Argus