Pikitup, Ward 66 Clr Neuren Pietersen and Ward 65 and 118 PR Clr McKinnley Mitchell had a walkabout on November 20 to visit the hot spots for illegal dumping in the Malvern area.
“The purpose of the visit was to meet with the communities where these hot spots exist, and together with them and Pikitup, to structure a plan that optimally works for both sides, to address the issue,” said Mitchell.
He said residents have come on board to fight this matter and have embraced the city’s A Re Sebetseng programme, but it is not enough to address the issue.
“The city is plagued with the scourge of illegal dumping. It has proven to be extremely difficult for the city’s Pikitup service, in all its continued efforts, to address this issue. There is clearly a lot more that must be done as illegal dumping persists,” said Mitchell.
“There are many contributing factors to illegal dumping, but one of the most prevalent in the Malvern area is possibly dumping by households, especially in informal settlements that discard their household rubbish in open spaces,” said Mitchell.
He said the walkabout was insightful because they could identify the causes of illegal dumping.
“We noticed that there are far more layers to the problem than might be visible at first. The hardest hit areas are informal settlements like Jumpas and Denver, where Pikitup cannot directly service these areas for structural reasons,” said Mitchell.
Pikitup has tried to assist the situation by regularly delivering free rubbish bags to these communities.
The community is then expected to dispose of their rubbish-filled bags in a skip, which is regularly serviced by Pikitup.
“However, it has not been successful. The solution of using a skip has not been successful because the bags often don’t make it to every shack in the informal settlement. Some residents refuse to make use of the skips because they feel that it’s more convenient to dispose of the rubbish in open fields that have become dumping sites because they feel the skip is too far away for them,” explained Mitchell.
He said the walkabout and the chats they had with the community has given them an idea of how to best deal with the situation.
“Efforts will be made to educate the community on the importance of correctly using the rubbish bags and the available skips. Each community will have a separate solution specifically designed for that area informed by information gathered at these public meetings,” said Mitchell.
He said this is the start of a journey they hope can yield positive results and that the community can come with solutions that they commit to and make them work.
“At these meetings, it is our hope that the system of how these Pikitup rubbish bags will be distributed to communities will be discussed, so that communities choose for themselves who they would like to put in charge of the distribution of the rubbish bags, to ensure that everyone receives enough bags for their individual/households needs, and the process of the distribution of these bags will be uniquely designed to fit the needs of the people in that area,” said Mitchell.
He urged the community to play its part in curbing illegal dumping.
“Community members must come up with solutions to ultimately eradicate illegal dumping in their communities. Residents are urged to play their part as well. That way the combined efforts can get the problem solved faster than we expect,” said Mitchell.
He also encouraged the community to continue participating in the monthly A Re Sebetseng clean-up sessions.
“Because of the end of the year, our next clean-up day will be slightly different, and a week earlier than usual, to accommodate the holidays. We will be meeting on December 14 and focusing only on removing illegal signs, as from our research this is an important task in our long-term strategy. We urge people to join us,” said Mitchell.
For those interesting in participating in this clean-up, the meeting point will be the Methodist Church on the corner of Frusquin and Hereford streets and the clean-up will be from 8am to 11am.
