Merafong’s promises not materializing
Despite the Merafong City Local Municipality promising to address the issues at the Fochville waste transfer station by the end of the month, nothing appears to have changed.
The facility has been a growing health concern for years. The municipality initially planned it as a central place for residents to dump surplus rubbish before the municipal trucks transport it to the main rubbish dump at Rooipoort. Mines in the area helped establish a recycling project at the transfer station to reclaim some of the recyclable waste.
However, the municipality allowed the project to grind to a halt. It also continually removes less rubbish from the site, causing it to pile up.
The facility got too small for all the rubbish, and the heaps grew; residents started dumping outside the gates.
The waste now reaches up the road to the facility, around the corner till opposite the municipal vehicle testing grounds.
There is so much rubbish that it is sometimes burnt to reduce the heaps.
Another direct health hazard from the piles of garbage is that the municipality cannot get to a maintenance hole that has been leaking for months.
Sewage now covers the road up to the transfer station. From there, it spills through the veld and flows toward the Loopspruit.
Last month, there seemed to be some hope when the municipality said it would evaluate the compatibility of its trucks and containers to sort out the problems and decide the way forward before the end of June, after which cleaning would commence.
By this week, there had still not been any visible improvement at the facility.
The Herald has also heard rumours that some cleaning equipment was stolen.
Although the municipality did not answer the Herald’s questions on Tuesday, it informed residents the same day that it had severe issues delivering waste removal services, not only in Fochville. Seven of its trucks had broken down, and only two trucks were left to remove rubbish across the municipal area.
“While delivering these services, even the two trucks available experienced overheating challenges, exacerbating the problems.
“From 26 June until further notice, we cannot complete the scheduled circuits.
“The municipality is working on amendments to the schedule, which we will communicate in due course.
“The municipality apologises for the inconvenience caused and endeavours to reinstate waste removal to normalcy soon,” the municipality said.
