GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Illegal dumping at the end of Plasket Street, near the river, has been an eyesore for local residents for some time.
Householders are concerned that the accumulated rubbish is causing a health problem, and some have in fact resorted to using their own garden workers to clear up in the area on a regular basis.
Although some people are blaming the residents in the area for dumping rubbish there, the problem also seems to stem from the vagrants who rifle through the rubbish bags put out for the municipality to collect.
These people take the bags to the river to sort through them, looking for scraps of food, as well as bottles or other material that can be sold for recycling. All the unwanted garbage is then left in or near the river bed.
There is a “no dumping’ sign with a SANParks logo that has been erected, but this is obviously ignored. Garden refuse and building rubble are dumped near the sign.
Cllr Samantha Graham came across the issue on Facebook and offered to meet the complainant so that he could show her where the problems were.
She discovered that there were two issues that really needed to be attended to in that street.
As well as the illegal dumping of both household refuse and garden refuse, there was a sewage station that had no lid, which caused an unbearable smell to permeate the houses of the residents and which overflowed periodically leaving raw sewage lying around.
She reported both issues to the relevant officials who acted immediately and by the following day, the area in Plasket Street had been cleared of rubbish and debris and the sewage outlet had a brand new lid affixed to it.
The river bed.
“Bennie Arends and Chantal Ngqoza were outstanding and I am truly grateful to have officials like them who are so ready to assist” commented Cllr Graham.
While the road itself has been cleaned, the situation at the river remains problematic and long-term solutions will need to be found to address this.
In addition, Ngqoza is looking at changing the route of the rubbish truck to try and mitigate against the vagrants going through the rubbish bags.
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