BROKEN vehicles, restricted overtime and personnel shortages have dumped Kempton Park’s waste management services into a huge hole.
In a statement issued on Friday following queries from Kempton Express, the metro acknowledged they were aware of the “refuse removal challenges” experienced at the Kempton Park depot.
Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman, said: “Waste management faces unprecedented refuse removal challenges as per the refuse removal programme.
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“The elongated turnaround time on repairs of broken down vehicles, either mechanical or hydraulic pipe leaks, has led to a shortage of vehicle availability for deployment to respective scheduled service areas, which contribute to backlogs,” he said.
The overtime limit restriction to 40 hours has compounded the aforementioned challenge. Those who have to wait for a vehicle that has finished its allocated service area, sometimes have to start their rounds after hours, which cannot be done anymore due to workers having reached their overtime limit.
Personnel shortages as a result of either ill-health, leave, fatigue and/or absenteeism, also impacts on the required standard number of personnel per vehicle. This sometimes lead to the vehicle not leaving the depot for the operational site, Gadebe added.
“However, the depot still endeavours to render service as per the refuse removal programme and regrets the inconvenience caused to Kempton Park residents.
“We are working at ensuring that the challenges become matters of the past through engagements with staff and the mechanical workshop,” Gadebe said.
He could not give a time when refuse removal services would return to normal.
