Illegal dumping drama continues in Highway
Illegal dumping sites have continued to mushroom across the Highway area.
- EVEN with the numerous mass clean ups held after the brazen looting in July, streets across the Highway area have become laden with trash, a large portion which has been attributed to illegal dumping.
WESTMEAD:
The DA PR councillor for ward 15, Marlaine Nair, has received numerous complaints of dumping at a section of Surprise Road in Westmead.
“What is very concerning is the fact that the refuse is making its way into the adjacent river. I spoke to the woman who has been using the area as a recycling collection point for a number of years, and advised her of the importance of ensuring that no refuse got into the river,” said Nair.
According to a local DSW law enforcement officer, whose name is known to the Highway Mail, companies around the area that supply the recycler with cardboard have also been taking the easy way out by dumping their refuse at this point, along with the cardboard.
“I am urging companies to please take your refuse to the Buffelsdraai Landfill Site, or apply for the municipal refuse collection service for businesses. Unfortunately, those who usually recycle are faced with the challenge of transporting the recyclables timeously. The City needs to do more to encourage and promote recycling that’s sustainable and responsible,” said councillor Nair.
PINETOWN:
The Open Door Crisis Care Centre hopes that by highlighting the illegal dump that has formed along a driveway on Windsor Road in Pinetown will deter offenders from returning.
The non-profit organisation’s founder, Thora Mansfield, said, “It has become a dump site and it’s a health hazard. There seems to be nothing we can do and it has been an ongoing issue for the past year. It has come to the point where people are urinating and defecating around the rubbish site. We have people who come here who are traumatised and we don’t need to traumatise them further. If it gets cleaned up, we need to ensure that it doesn’t just begin again. Something needs to be done!”
The Highway Mail previously reported on the illegal dumping taking place at the Keep Hillcrest Beautiful Association’s recycling centre. Residents dropped off black refuse bags as well as orange bags that were filled with items not accepted at the site. This meant that the non-profit organisation had to fork out funds to remove the trash from the site.
To help reduce the amount of litter in the community, both the Move ONE Million-Upper Highway and the Keep Westville Beautiful organisations held clean ups in their respective neighbourhoods and filled dozens of plastic bin bags with rubbish.
The eThekwini Municipality did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
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