Illegal dumpsite near school cleared

THE staff and pupils of Clermont Primary School will now have easy access to the school without manoeuvring through bags of rubbish at the school entrance.

Durban Solid Waste, the Expanded Public Works Programme, the Parks Department, Safer City, the Roads Department and Westville National Resource joined hands in cleaning up piles of bags of litter which were piling up next to the school’s entrance.

As was highlighted previously in the Highway Mail, the school was experiencing problems due to people dumping litter near the school, which resulted in a health hazard for the pupils and the staff.

The school’s nightmare started early this year when people started dumping their rubble in a field which was cleared to expand the playing area for the children.

In 2010, the school appealed to contractors, who were renovating the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium, to dump soil so that it could make a bigger field for the children. In the past, the Roads Department would send a tractor to level the soil, but since the beginning of this year they had not done so. People started dumping their rubble on the grounds, and it was getting closer and closer to the gate.

The school’s principal, Nkosinathi Shabalala, said they are grateful that the rubbish has been cleared.

“We were having difficulties entering the school because of the rubbish bags that people had been dumping illegally. This was a major health issue, and this place was starting to be a haven for criminals,” said Shabalala.

The Parks Department also used this opportunity to plant trees at the school to celebrate Arbour Week.