Recreational parks were once places of tranquillity and leisure, but most of them have been turned into dump sites over the years.
Silver Pipe Park in Meadowlands Zone One is an example of one of the many parks which have been neglected for many years after being turned into a dump site.
After a series of public meetings held by Ward 43 councillor, Happyboy Molobye last year, community members expressed their concern over the steadily deteriorating conditions at the park.
The Ward 43 community development 1 took it upon themselves to clear the refuse in order to start maintenance at the park so that the community could start taking advantage of the numerous leisure activities the park has to offer.
Molobye said that the cleanup operation started in December last year and he added, “I would like to thank the ward committee for working with me to ensure service delivery. The City of Johannesburg and Pikitup arrived and cleaned the park as requested.”
After the revamp, the illegal dumping continued, despite the major transformation and Molobye said,”People refuse to stop dumping illegally at the park.
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He said, “I am requesting that the community development close the park in order to put a stop to the illegal dumping and I ask that the community starts taking care of the park.”
Pamphlets will be distributed in each household surrounding the park to warn them about the consequences for offenders who continue using the park to dump their trash.
Molobye said that it was encouraging that soccer teams were now putting the park to good use after seeing local teams training there.
“We are now working on things to do to ensure the development of the park,” said Molobye.
Kedibone Kgwedi, who handles the environment portfolio said that community members all have waste bins and were informed of the procedures they need to follow if they want to replace a lost bin.
She said, “The reason they dump at the park is that they forget to take out their waste bins when waste collectors arrive and wait until nightfall to get rid of their garbage in the park.”
