Local forum looks to breathe new life into Congella Park

A core of conerned citizens and local businesses are slowly breathing new life into Congella Park in Umbilo.

Last week, eThekwini’s Parks Department and Safer Cities, in collaboration with local businesses, held another major clean-up at Congella Park.

Staff from the departments along with Atlas Scrap, HiQ Umbilo and Clark and Kent, donned gloves and picked up shovels as they set about clearing out and cleaning up the park.

Sikho Msomi from the Umbilo Business Forum (UBF) extended his thanks to local businesses for the involvement on the day. He said the forum was encouraging other businesses in the area to get involved in helping clean up the park and other areas of Umbilo.

“We’re dealing with so many issues in the area in relation to crime and grime. There’s the issue of vagrants and their placement, and how the city is dealing with this problem,” he said. Msomi added that the Umbilo Business Forum was hoping to get local businesses involved in helping to deal with these social issues so that the forum was better able to partner with the city in overcoming these social challenges.

Ian Gillies from Clark and Kent and the UBF said the focus was on ways to establish job creation outside of the business and felt it was important to involve the vagrants in initiatives to clean up the area.

Jennifer Rampersad from the Parks Department said the city had given her five safety officers, two of which were stationed at Resistance Park and the other three who would be working in Congella Park.

“The officers will be present to control and enforce the rules of the parks. I feel this is the ideal spot to try something like Bulwer Park has initiated, with a coffee shop and permaculture garden, to encourage locals to visit the park again,” she said.

Gillies added that he was keen to work with Rampersad on a venture of this sort and get the vagrants involved, to try improve their way of life.