THE newly proposed waste brigade squad to be established by the City of Ekurhuleni, will cost ratepayers R150 million a year.
According to Clr Gary Scallan, DA PR councillor and member of the environmental development oversight committee in Ekurhuleni, there have been ample cleaning campaigns for years now in the City and none of them have yielded a tangible aesthetic result.
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“Currently, the City has the Siyaqhuba Mayoral Outreach Programme, the R101-million Lungile Mtshali Project, the Extended Public Works Programme, the Keep Ekurhuleni Clean Programme and, now, a further extension to the Keep Ekurhuleni Clean Programme called the Waste Management Brigades. The programme is looking to employ 2 372 people at a cost of R150 million a year,” Scallan said in a statement on Thursday.
“While the Democratic Alliance in Ekurhuleni welcomes any initiative that will create jobs and make our city and environment clean, one cannot help but wonder why the metro believes this initiative will work.
“There is not a single programme to address and find the perpetrators of illegal dumping and those littering and polluting our city. There is currently not one metro police unit fining these culprits. The MMC of community safety, Clr Vivienne Chauke, is responsible for the EMPD, yet she cannot indicate how many fines were issued for illegal dumping and littering in the past year,” Scallan said.
He added that the metro police had indicated that they had a clear programme on how to implement by-laws within the communities, yet no councillor had seen this plan.
“The waste department does not even have any programmes in place for the Green Scorpions or environmental enforcement agencies. So, while the anti-littering by-laws are not being enforced, this municipality still wants to throw a further R150 million a year at another programme.
“While the DA is in favour of job creation, we do not support the punishing of law-abiding citizens for the misdeeds of illegal dumpers. The city needs to beef up law enforcement and strategically place the Green Scorpions at various dumping hotspots, and maybe then this city will make a profit from the illegal dumping fines, instead of running at a loss because of the cleaning and re-cleaning costs.”
