Riverside Road dump in sorry state

THE Durban Solid Waste garden site dump in Riverside, Durban North, has been the topic in the area for weeks now due to the site not being cleared timeously.

Ward 36 councillor Shontel de Boer said she has been inundated with calls from residents saying that they have been inconvenienced and have had to drive farther to Umgeni to get rid of their garden refuse.

Also read: Malacca Road clean-up brings results

De Boer told the Northglen News that the situation has worsened over the past two months.

“The problem is that there is only one truck servicing the entire north Durban area, so the clearing of the site is delayed. The other truck needs repairs, but there is a hold-up with the supply chain management and the processes that have to be followed,” she said.

“It’s not fair that the residents have to be inconvenienced because of failing departments at the municipality. I am monitoring the situation and make requests on a weekly basis for the site to be cleared,” she added.

Msawakhe Mayisela, spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality, denied claims that there is only one truck servicing north Durban in its entirety but confirmed that the specialised compactors used at the sites were down for some time.

“The servicing of the garden sites is done by more than one truck and shared amongst sites,” he said.

He said a backlog was also due to the closure of the Bisasar Landfill.

“There has been a significant increase in garden waste to the site following the closure of the Bisasar Landfill. Additionally, challenges were experienced with abnormal downtime of the specialised industrial compactors that service the garden sites. This has collectively led to the backlog which has now been cleared,” he added. “In the meantime, residents can use the dump site in Umgeni if the one at Riverside is at capacity.”

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