GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Employees of the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality are hard at work to improve the state of the Graaff-Reinet waste transfer and landfill site.

This, after encouragement from the Graaff-Reinet Economic Development Forum, which hopes to better the town.

Drone images taken of the site before the clean-up, by forum member Morné van Jaarsveld, showed heaps of litter strewn across the area.

According to Acting Community Service Director of the municipality, Bennie Arends, the landfill site operated outside permit conditions.

"Since February, the municipality had difficulty in ensuring operation and maintenance of the site due to problems with municipal fleet and monitoring," Arends told the Advertiser.

However, around two weeks ago, the municipality took action to clean the site — a project that took about a week and a half, and saw to substantial improvement.

"[Seeing the results] felt great," Arends added. "We achieved this working together as a community to better the lives of all by ensuring improvements and compliance."

Arends wished to thank the local Mayor, Portfolio Councillor, Municipal Manager and the Graaff-Reinet Forum for their assistance. He also thanked the Engineering and Planning Directorate, operators and workers for their dedication.

"We need to work together to ensure that all of us enjoy the basic services as prescribed in the constitution," Arends concluded. "It is easy to distance ourselves and complain, but we can do something and be part of the solution."

The site before the clean-up project kicked off.

Employees of the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipality, who helped clean the transfer and landfill site: Freddie Ludick, Bennie Arends, Luca Speelman (red Jacket), Denzil Frolick, Hans Mokwena, Martin Booi, Roland Prins and Nosiphowo Boyana. Photograph supplied

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