Park spic and span following mass clean-up

Tornado Blockwatch (TBW) proved that fighting crime is not their only priority when their members and the public took the time to clean up a park in Georginia on Spring Day, Sunday 1 September.

The park, situated at the corner of 5th Avenue and Du Toit Street in Georginia was said to be extremely filthy, not to mention the rubbish, plastic and broken glass bottles scattered all over the place.

According to the chairperson of the Tornado Blockwatch, Caroline Mulder, “The purpose was that we and the community get together and show that as a unit we can achieve great things.

“At times the youth in our block go to the park to play sports, but it has become a health risk as they could get hurt because of the state the park is in. It also is not a very pleasant sight in such a lovely park environment.

“We had a good response from all who attended, namely TBW Committee/members/patrollers, pensioner in the area, families, children and Dunmar (Dunmar security company is in a partnership with Tornado Blockwatch in the fight against crime in the area).

“We appreciate even our disabled community members who were there in wheelchairs, which showed true commitment to the purpose of the blockwatch. We also would like to thank everyone who helped to clean up the field on Sunday and a special thank you to our local business sponsors Fall prevention and JSigns who supported this cause and gave us gloves, plastic bags etcetera to clean up the park.

“It’s clear that we all can add value to the community – united we stand.”

TBW does not believe in fighting crime only, but also in being of service and getting to know the community to form a united front no matter what happens.

TBW aims at establishing a recycling station near or in the park to make the community aware of their responsibility towards the environment and make the block a better and cleaner place to live in.

“TBW has been fully active for the past three years and is still growing,” Mulder said.

“Crime in the area has decreased by 85 per cent thanks to dedicated patrols, a strong radio network, effective SMS web-based program, direct communication channels with the South African Police Service (SAPS) and various security companies in the area.

“Creating awareness in the area has been very effective as we regularly update all four our notice boards situated at key entry point into the Tornado Blockwatch area along the road sides, not to mention the support of all our members.

“TBW’s goal is to have a street captain in every street and for every second or third house to have access to the radio system, to involve those who cannot patrol to look after the street they live in.”

• Details: TBW on 060 359 1871