Glenwood, Umbilo residents urged to report bad smell

RESIDENTS in Glenwood and Umbilo have expressed fears that the bad smell they have been experiencing in recent weeks, might be similar to the toxic air that affected communities in the Hillcrest region.

Barbara Wood, who lives in Glenwood, said she had lived on and off with her sister in Hillcrest for a year and is familiry with the toxic odours in that area.

“I can tell you now that the smell is very similar to that one,” she said.

“It started on 16 May at about 11 pm and the following night from about midnight to 2am. Last Wednesday, it was very bad, and I had to wake up and close the windows because the whole atmosphere was filled with the smell. At the end of it, I had a terrible headache,” she said.

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Katja Correa, another resident in the area has also complained about the bad chemical smell and agreed that it was a similar smell tho that reported in Hillcrest. “It is very strong and people report needing asthma pumps when it occurs,” she told Berea Mail.

“It happens every few days for the past weeks. Mostly at night and in the mornings. We never had that intensity before. It smells very badly right now,” she said.

Earlier this year, residents of Hillcrest, Shongweni, Kloof, Dassenhoek and surrounding neighbourhoods lodged a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) application to find out exactly what hazardous waste was being dumped and how it was being treated at EnviroServ’s Shongweni landfill site, which they alleged was the cause of the noxious odour affecting their health.

Durban South Community Environmental Alliance spokesperson Desmond D’Sa said there had also been complaints from residents in the Bluff in recent weeks.

“I have complained on the Jacobs area to Peter Roberts .The residents must call the mergency call centre on 031-3610000 on the weekends and evenings when the smell is bad and log a complaint and request a reference number. They can forward that to either me at desmond@sdceango.co.za or to my colleague Bongani at bongani@sdceango.co.za,” he said.

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Peter Roberts of the eThekwini environmental health department said he had received no complaints from residents in Glenwood lately. “The last complaints received in that area concerned a boiler in a laundry off Umbilo Road and the boiler smoke from a boiler at Lever Bros in Maydon Wharf, which we sorted out,” he said.

“All complaints must go via Call Centre (031-3610000) , so that accurate official logs/references are kept.,” Roberts said.

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