He is living in hope that the municipal refuse removers will arrive.”There is a constant problem with service delivery in our area, particularly on our street [Athlone Road],” he says.
Every morning residents of Athlone Street take out their refuse, as is required by the municipality, but find themselves having to take it back in when evening approaches, due to failure of removal by the municipality.
This becomes a constant exercise, which has to be repeated until the refuse removers eventually collect, which may take days or weeks in some instances.
As a result of this nuisance, the litter in the refuse bags ends up being blown into the streets, which creates an unsanitary and polluted environment.
“The municipality is inconsiderate of the residents, and does not care about delivering their services, so we end up having to do the work for them,” says Johan.
A resident of Athlone Court, which is further down the road from Johan’s residence, was found cleaning the pavement outside the flats, on Thursday.
“The refuse has not been collected and if I wait for the municipal litter pickers to come and pick up the litter, which is a result of the refuse lying on the pavements, I will wait a very long time,” says Hannah Smit (50).
“We simply cannot have litter lying around, in the hope that something will happen.”
Johan says it is time for the metro to account for the lack of services, which are paid for by the taxpayers.
“People are getting tired of excuses and disdain from the municipality,” he says,
“It is time our issues are given the attention they deserve.”
We have sent questions to the metro regarding the delay in refuse removal and are currently awaiting feedback.
