City works with its residents
WELTERVREDEN PARK – An integrated community outreach programme was held by the Haak and Steek and 9th Avenue intersection.
A joint operation by the city’s entities and residents was held in Weltervreden Park on 25 May.
The main focus of the operation was the intersection where J G Strydom Road, Haak and Steek Street and 9th Avenue meet. Regional Director for Region C, Mlamleli Belot said, “We work with the Ward councillor, their council members and the residents to solve important issues in the area.”
Mlamleli identified five areas that needed immediate attention:
1) Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has been removing debris from under the Haak and Steek Park Dam bridge.
2) Pikitup removed the illegal dumping in the Ward.
3) Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo cut the very high grass.
4) Johannesburg City Power noted all the faulty street lights and will work to fix those soon.
5) JMPD and other members had a general walk around the area to identify any traffic infringements – for instance the apparent speeding on Snelskaats Street.
Other initiatives by the Department of Health were that of testing and creating awareness for prostate, cervical and breast cancer, diabetes, hypertension, TB, sex education and finally suicide prevention.
“I would like to thank the City for their efforts, and for the various stakeholders to take the time to listen to our problems and requests. It is, however, a fruitless exercise if it’s not followed up with continual maintenance,” said Panorama Resident’s Association chairperson and Honeydew CPF public relations officer Jon Rosenberg.
Ward 89 Councillor Ingrid Reinten commented, “It is great that the city came today, although I do believe a more systematic approach to collecting the information would solve many issues. These problems that have been fixed today have been constantly brought up in my Integrated Development Programme (IDP) for four years now.”
In addressing this issue Mlamleli responded, “We do apologize to the residents and council members. The city is trying to work on our turnaround time; we are lacking in resources and manpower to effectively solve all city related problems. We are looking at a much more improved system by the end of June following into July.”
