Waste removal is one of the services in eMalahleni that has not always been up to standard however the municipality has some good news to report regarding their waste removal truck fleet with 16 operational trucks.
Waste delivery was at a low in 2013 with only one truck operational and this was restored to an operational level during the end of 2013 and 2014 with between 10 and 15 trucks servicing the municipal area daily.
However according the Municipal Manager Theo Van Vuuren, recently and on a regular basis, break downs as well as other issues results in the operational fleet been reduced to sometimes only five trucks per day. This has definitely been frustrating for residents.
“This was needed to try and manage the situation in a pragmatic manner based on resource availability,” he added.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Jabuline Hlatswayo, has been faced with certain challenges since he took charge of waste removal in July. According to him their effectiveness is very dependant on funding and available
recourses.
No more carting your own rubbish to the dump sight.
“We had cases where a truck was non-operational for three months for a simple issue such as tyres,” said Hlatswayo.
The challenge is that although there are 25 trucks only seven are in good condition and at least 10 are past their repairable state and will be scrapped soon.
“We are proud that as of today we have 16 waste removal trucks on the road, mainly as a result of the CFO’s interventions and dedication from the fleet manager, which for the first time in months provide us with a full complement of vehicles to cover all areas on time. We hope to maintain this status and will in the next budget start with the inclusion of replacement trucks for those trucks nearing the end of their economic life,” Van Vuuren finished the statement.
This seems to be a step in the right direction and hopefully residents can expect fewer delays on waste removal in the future.
