Resident wants action, not lip service

Officials of departments that are not performing should be held responsible or should vacate their positions.

This was stated by Mr Roger Sequeira, a resident who has been pleading for action in Fotheringham Park for years to no avail.

He and other residents living close to the park are forced to contend with criminals and vagrants using the park to their benefit, illegal dumping which includes dead animals and a number of other problems.

He said people are dumping everywhere, including at the boundary walls of some residents living in Highland Road. Not only is this unsightly, it is posing a health hazard to people.

“Vagrants, thieves and robbers are operating with impunity in the park. People who recycle are using the park as a sorting area. They leave all the rubbish, including broken glass, on the grass. Vagrants and thieves are sleeping in the park. They pose a threat to people and more importantly, small children playing in the park, mostly unsupervised,” said Mr Sequeira.

He added that it has been months since the grass was cut and lights in the park and surrounding areas are not working.

“This is a danger to all who use the area to walk and drive in. Every single day there are people with their motor vehicles in the park. This is illegal and a danger to users of the park. They remove and damage the fence around the park to get in. On weekends there are a couple of people on quad bikes who invade the tranquillity of the park and ride in it unchallenged. By the time the police arrive they are long gone. We have at least one resident who has gone as far as having a driveway constructed to gain access to his property through the park. This is illegal and I feel council should prosecute him or her to the full extent of the law,” he said.

He forwarded his concerns to Clr Alison van der Molen, stating that he is sick of being ignored. He wanted to know what she is going to do about his concerns.

“As rate paying taxpayers we are tired of lip service, whether it comes from the ANC or the DA. We want meaningful action. I will not ignore this and will keep on at it until something is done. We will not sit idly by and see the properties we have invested in go down in value because those elected to serve sit back and ignore our plight,” he said. After raising his concerns with her, he said he received a call from a Pikitup official. “He did not know where Fotheringham Park and the street name provided to him were. He is in charge of Kensington yet he does not know the area. Service delivery is lacking. I just want this suburb to look the way it used to look,” said Mr Sequeira.

Clr Van der Molen said she received feedback from City Parks stating that the grass would be cut. “We have a dilemma with lighting. City Power says that if lights are in a park, it is City Parks’ responsibility. City Parks said it is City Power’s responsibility to fix. I have forwarded Mr Sequeira’s concerns to the relevant departments. Fotheringham Park is of huge concern to me. I requested some palisade fencing for the area, from the last house in Orion Street towards the park. I put this request in at the Integrated Development Plan and am waiting for a response,” she said.

She said residents must stop dumping because their actions are impacting on others. She urged people to provide her with details of people who dump. “I also discourage people from using the park when it is dark,” she said.

The EXPRESS previously published an article in which Ms Nazeema Abrahams, from the Community Women’s Forum in the Cleveland SAPS precinct, complained to station management about the crime emanating from the park. She requested more visibility in the park and close to the tennis club. According to Ms Abrahams, criminals hide behind a wall at the tennis club.

Colonel Bongani Dlamini, the Cleveland SAPS station commander, said he was aware of problems emanating from the park and was trying to address them.

The EXPRESS forwarded an enquiry to City Parks, the Cleveland SAPS, Pikitup and City Power. At the time of going to print, not comment had been received.