GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser has been made aware of problems at the Waste Transfer Station by members of the public on several occasions in the last two months.
Last week, local resident Philip de Wet posted some photos on social media taken on Wednesday morning, showing rubbish scattered everywhere, which drew a string of comments from other residents relating their problems.
One woman complained of children trying to jump on her bakkie while she was turning, becoming aggressive when she refused to pay them. People have been seen going through the rubbish looking for food, and many residents feel threatened, particularly women on their own.
The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser approached the municipality for comment on the situation.
Acting Communications Officer for the municipality, Edwardine Abader, stated that the municipality is aware of the state of the Waste Transfer Station. She said that the mechanical plant required some attention, and is in the process of being repaired, with the service provider currently being on site to affect these repairs.
"In the interim, due to a shortage of fleet, the Community Service directorate made use of the Engineering and Planning directorate's loader and truck to assist with cleaning at the Waste Transfer Station and other areas in town," said Abader, emphasising that it was just a temporary arrangement to alleviate the problem. The municipality will apparently be attending to the fleet requirements during this financial year.
She explained that there was a delay in attending to the refuse at the Waste Transfer Station during last week in particular as a result of the mechanical plant, and said that plans are in place to attend to the refuse, starting this week.
The local recycling facility does try to remove as much as possible from the WTS daily, but there is simply too much rubbish for them to be able to handle.
The City of Johannesburg now regulates that residents in many areas must separate their refuse before it is collected by PikItUp, as from the beginning of this month. The company is providing residents with colour coded plastic bags - blue for glass and plastic, and green for bio-degradable waste. Some residents of the Graaff-Reinet district do separate their household waste and take to the recycling facility in the industrial area themselves, which is a very straightforward and quick operation. The recycling facility even provides bags for residents to use. Perhaps if more residents to take part in voluntary recycling, the problem could be eased to a certain extent.]
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