The much-anticipated opening of the Modimolle landfill site has hit another snag.
Although the municipality has received the licenses for the opening of the new site in the Drie Hekke area and the closing of the old site, next to the R101, in January 2018, progress has been slow.
Residents are eager for the old site to be closed down and rehabilitated as the houses in Extension 10 are located very close to the landfill site and fires regularly cause a cloud of smoke to engulf the area. This neighborhood has rapidly expanded during the past few years. Die Pos has reported on these frustrations of local residents since 2015.
The illegal dumping of rubbish has also grown extensively with residents saying they feel unsafe to go to the landfill site as there is no control and tens of informal recyclers swarm vehicles that stop to offload rubble.
According to the mayor of the Modimolle-Mookgophong Municipality, Sechele Sebolai, the waste disposal site is a priority and needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.
“We have unfortunately had another setback as the consultant used materials with the wrong specifications. They have also run out of money. The municipality has contacted the Limpopo Economic Development, Environment and Tourism Department (LEDET) to intervene as this needs to be resolved without delay,” he said.
The specifications of the materials are important as the site will be used for recycling purposes and the groundwater needs to be protected from hazardous chemicals that might leach into the soil.
“This mess is killing us slowly. It is unhealthy with the guts of animals being dumped here and green flies coming into our houses. Elderly people and children with asthma suffer from the smoke of the fires that are constantly burning. We complain, but the problem just never gets solved,” said a frustrated Philip Mogudu, who lives next to the old landfill site in Modimolle.
Sebolai said that the landfill site was transferred from the social services department at the municipality to the technical department. According to Aphiwe Mananga, acting director of technical services, this was done to ensure proper management by staff with technical know-how.
“A well-managed landfill site has a life span of 30 years. When it is not properly run, the life span is as little as five years.”
The acquisition of new refuse removal trucks was fast-tracked to help combat illegal dumping across the municipality.
“We previously rented three refuse trucks at a cost of R80 000 per month each. When we include the rental cost for vehicles for the electrical department, it exceeds R400 000. We recently received funds from the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) and were able to buy three new refuse trucks and four vehicles for the electrical department at a cost of R9,7 m, which saves the municipality a substantial amount of money,” Sebolai said.
