FED-UP with litter in their area, Umbilo residents took to the street to clean up Perth Place on Saturday.
Judy Moodley, an Umbilo resident, said she and her staff cleaned up litter on Bartle Road while about six community members joined in to clean up Perth Place.
“It’s a health hazard and it’s impacting the community. Homeless people come and pick through the refuse and it raises crime in area,” she said.
What’s more, garbage was left uncollected for more than one day.
“The garbage truck should have come on Tuesday, but only arrived on Friday. Rubbish was lying outside for days. What tends to happen is monkeys or dogs rip the bags open and the refuse lies all over the road. When they do eventually come to pick up the refuse, they don’t pick up all the rubbish strewn along the road,” said Moodley.
She said she reported the matter to the eThekwini Municipality.
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“They say there aren’t any trucks available. How can they say they have 10 trucks not working and then just leave the refuse? We are paying rates and taxes and they are getting paid but don’t get the work done,” she said.
Ward 33 councillor, Mmabatho Tembe said there was a similar problem on Selborne Road where refuse littered the road.
“For a few weeks now, DSW has had a problem with trucks. The problem has been ongoing, but it seems as though it has gotten more excessive within the last few weeks with late collection of refuse. These late collections are due to trucks continually breaking down. This really affects Glenwood and Umbilo. We have had spillage which is caused because the trucks don’t collect the refuse early.
“Vagrants go through and tear the bags and the wind carries the refuse down the road. When DSW collects the refuse, they don’t sweep up the rubbish that has been left on the road. This is cause by the municipality not collecting on time. They are supposed to collect at 06:30 or 07:00 and now collection is either in the afternoon, after lunch, or days later. It’s causing a major issue,” she said.
Tembe said she has reported the matter several times.
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“At least once a week, when there is no collection, I send an email to the head of DSW. I have had two responses, saying he will look into the matter. I’ve also requested more street sweepers and litter pickers to be sent out, because we have had an increase in litter and dirt due to spillage,” she added.
The eThekwini Municipality did not send their comment at the time this article went to press.
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