Property has become a dumping zone, say residents
Kenneth Gardens residents raise their concerns for health and safety.
VAGRANTS, drug addicts and dumping are just some of the problems residents at Kenneth Gardens have to deal with on a daily basis.
Leonie Canham, a Kenneth Gardens resident and member of the Umbilo ward committee said something had to be done. “People just dump anywhere and everywhere. The place has really gone down. There is no fence so hobos and homeless people wander in here and use our flats as a free for all zone for anyone to do as they please. We have people coming in and sleeping in our bin areas or at the park. There are also people doing drugs and drinking alcohol in the sheltered areas by the bins. Last month we had a church move into the park for a ministry mission and they didn’t have bins only porta-loos. A neighbour had to give them bin bags to clean up after their lunch on the last day. They left two weeks ago, but the prota-loos which were filthy and a huge health hazard were only removed on Sunday,” she said.
Since the disbanding of a co-op which worked well to keep the flats, which home about 250 families, in order, residents allege the property has become filthy and “chaotic”. “The co-op was made up of unemployed residents and pensioners in the area who had a vested interest in the property and ensured that it was clean and tidy. We really need something done because there is now only a supervisor and no cleaners. People are dumping their rubbish here and the mess is overlfowing,” said Canham.
An additional problem, said residents were the school children who were on holiday and had taken to scratching through items that had been dumped and playing with them. When Berea Mail went to visit the flat, a group of children had made up a new game after dragging three mattresses and wooden palettes into the park. The children were seen running up a tyre, and then somersaulting onto the mattresses just inches from the wooden palettes containing rusty nails.
“It’s a safety issue. We need help to get rid of all these dumped items. The children don’t realise it’s not a game and they can get hurt,” she said.
