Fotheringham Park mess

The I Love Kensington Association (Ilka) will try to address concerns relating to Fotheringham Park.

Last week, the EXPRESS was approached by a Kensington resident, Mr John Banks, who said he cannot believe the state the park is in.

He said he is one of several residents who are affected by the illegal dumping taking place in the park and urged authorities to attend to the problem.

“The illegal dumping, some of which is against our boundary walls, is disgusting. This is a health hazard. Rats are increasing and I cannot believe nothing is being done,” said Mr Banks.

He said the authorities can easily find out who is dumping because some of the items dumped have addresses on them.

“There are letters from the traffic department, municipal bills and E-toll bills among the garbage dumped there. Some of the dumping can be traced back to people living in Persimmon Street, in Malvern. I have reported my concerns and received reference numbers. All officials say when I follow up is that the problem has been attended to, but the illegal dumps are still there,” he said.

Mr Bank has been living in Kensington for over 60 years and said the suburb is deteriorating.

“The illegal dumping is frustrating. We as residents try to clean up but it does not change anything. There are open manholes and drains everywhere, damaged pavements and incomplete work by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and Joburg Water. There are also overgrown trees lifting up the paving, making certain areas unsightly and difficult to walk on,” said Mr Banks.

Several of the problems he highlighted are problems in Orion Street and Highland Road.

Mr Banks is not the first resident in the area to complain about service delivery breakdowns. The EXPRESS previously published an article in which Mr Roger Sequeira said the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) administration is a joke.

Mr Sequeira raised concerns about the pavements that are in need of repair, damaged storm water drains and missing manhole covers in the same area. He also complained about the state of Fotheringham Park, which borders Malvern and Kensington.

In a joint response from Ms Millicent Kabwe, from Joburg Water, and Ms Bertha Peters-Scheepers, from the JRA last week, they said, “There is only one missing manhole cover at the corner of Orion and Langermann Drive and it has been made safe with a jersey barrier. The JRA will close this manhole permanently as it is next to the kerb inlet. At the corner of Orion Street and Highland Road there was an open excavation which we have since barricaded so that we do not compromise the safety of residents on that street.”

They added that they will address the problem this week. They also said, “At 79 Orion Street we have replaced a damaged meter affecting the tarred sidewalk and kerbs. We are in the process of getting a team to rectify this.”

The EXPRESS forwarded an enquiry to Ms Jenny Moodley, from Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.

Mrs Lornette Joseph, the chairperson of Ilka, said Fotheringham Park, like other parks and open spaces in and around Kensington, seems to be on a ‘forgotten’ list.

“We have been in several discussions for the park to be mowed and for role players other than City Parks to get involved, but until we take the matter up with higher people in the ‘food chain’, nothing seems to be done.

“Mr Sequeira contacted the former councillor to address problems in the park. He then contacted me. I logged the call twice and after a few days I wrote to Ms Jenny Moodley from City Parks. She escalated the problem and City Parks cut the grass the next day.

“It is unfortunate that it had to get to this point before anyone did anything about it. We are tired of constantly having to beg for the various departments to actually do the jobs entrusted to them. The problem is each division blames the other but nobody just gets on with it,” she said.

Mrs Joseph added that Ilka has encouraged people to take pride in their pavements, houses, streets and parks.

“We have actively gone out and cleaned streets and parks. This is not our job but we are proud of Kensington and we feel that a partnership needs to be put forward, not only with council departments, but also with residents. Yes, let the residents take responsibility for their suburb, but when you are met with this amount of filth and decay, and non-assistance from the council departments, the residents become discouraged and I cannot blame them,” she said.

Mrs Joseph said she will personally take up the matter of Fotheringham Park and address it with all relevant stakeholders. She also encourages residents who surround the park to assist with the clean-up.

@JoziReporter