NEW Germany residents are at their wits’ end about the dumped rubbish that is found in almost every corner of the suburb.
CPF chairperson Lynn Robson said it is frustrating that people are also using the river as their dumping area.
“What annoys us more is that people drive from their areas and dump their rubbish here. On a daily basis, we find all sorts of items – couches, televisions and even fridges. How hard is it to dispose of things in the correct manner? We have many issues in our rivers, and it is sad that there are people who see our rivers as dumping places.”
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Recently, residents hosted a clean-up around Sander Road where 250 bags of litter were picked up.
“The open areas in our suburb have clear boards with ‘No Dumping’ written on them, but people do not care.”
Robson, together with a friend, Maddy Bouramis, have become eco-warriors in the area and have taken it upon themselves to clean the area. You can often find them picking up litter and reporting the issues of scattered litter to Durban Solid Waste.
In their cars, you will find gloves, refuse bags and No Dumping boards.
“But there is only so much we can do,” said Robson with a sigh.
The other issues that the duo raised are the wrong usage of litter bags and residents who take out their refuse bags on the wrong days.
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“People need to keep their household refuse in their yard until collection day. Our area has turned into a disgrace. Branches are left lying on the pavements for months. Others put garden refuse in green bags.”
Although Robson and Bouramis have issues with the illegal dumping and the wrong usage of bags, they raised the issue that the municipality also needs to play its role in sorting out these kinds of situations.
“Blue bags are hard to find – residents have complained on numerous occasions that they struggle to find them, even in big retail stores, and that could be the reason they are using green bags, but the thing is, they stay here for weeks – Durban Solid Waste seldom picks them up.”
“I do not even want to discuss the issue of orange bags,” said Bouramis.
“We plead with residents to play their role in keeping our area clean – all the rubbish in our roads will just attract rats into the area, and it is just degrading our place,” pleaded Robson.
The Highway Mail contacted the municipality regarding the issue of refuse bags but did not get any comment by the time of going to print.
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