Several towns slowly succumb to mountains of filth.

LYDENBURG – Afrifrum recently issued a report to the Ehlanzeni District Municipality on the present status of the municipal dumpsites of Thaba Chweu Municipality.

According to Mr Leon de Jager, chairman of Afriforum in Lydenburg, the intention is to focus attention on the total collapse of refuse management within the Thaba Chweu Local Municipality (TCM).

“We want to seek a remedy or assistance from the Ehlazeni District Municipality to rectify the current situation.”

In the report De Jager said TCM was technically insolvent and did not have the financial means or capacity to afford the management of the three towns dumping sites.

“This municipality has already been placed under administration at least three times in the past 10 years. The municipality is presently (the last three months) “managed” by a task team send here by the premier of Mpumalanga. TCM does not, or has not, for at least the last six months, had any refuse removal trucks operational in order to do the collection of refuse in these three towns. The trucks are all standing at the municipal workshop in various stages of disrepair.”

He added that the municipality was hiring -on an ad-hoc basis – local businesses to collect the refuse in town and dump it at the dump sites. “This is being done with open trucks, quite often these trucks are overloaded and some of the black plastic bags fall off on the way to the dump sites. These bags are not collected and other road users simply drive over them, spilling the rotten contents on the public roads.”

The report also made reference to the fact that TCM did not have the capacity in terms of the regular collection of refuse, especially in the townships of Mashishing and Skila where there was a huge backlog and piles of uncollected refuse could be seen everywhere.

“TCM has contracted out the management of the three dumping sites to Eco Mare Waste Management during 2011and 2012. The municipality has not managed to pay this contractor for his services and, as a result he has withdrawn his services during July or August 2013.

The dump site at Lydenburg has been deserted for the most of November 2013 with no action being taken by TCM to stop fire outbreaks. There are a lot of plastic bags and bottles on the dumping site which releases toxic and dangerous gases when they burn. If it was not for the good rains that we had, the site would still be burning.”

His report stated that no waste management was presently taken place at any of the three municipal dump sites.

“TCM is in breach of all the legislation governing the handling and management of waste at these dumpsites. The technical director seconded to TCM as part of the task team is well aware of the situation at the Lydenburg site. He in fact inspected the site with a councillor more than a week ago and saw the disaster in the making. With the rainy season on hand and the humid conditions, a very large increase of flies, mosquitoes and blow flies had been noticed in the three towns. This is a real health hazard in the making and is a result of no compaction (waste management) being done at the waste dumps.”

De Jager said there was no control over the residents and school children who scavenged these sites on a daily basis. They were being exposed to all the unhealthy conditions associated with an unmanaged dumpsite.

“In the Graskop area residents are dumping their waste along the main road to the Kowyns Pass because TCM is not rendering the required service or management. Graskop is a prime tourism area with lots of visitors using this route. This will surely leave a very bad impression and will result in negative media reporting .

TCM cannot address the dire state of these dumpsites for the following reasons: There is no funds to pay the contractor who has suspended his services, there is no equipment belonging to the municipality that is in a proper working condition that can be used to ‘restore’ the ‘sick state’ of the dumpsites, because there is no funds to repair the equipment.”

He also stated that the Ehlazeni District Municipality seriously considered taking over the management of the three municipal dumpsites that TCM was responsible for.

“Ehlazeni District Council should directly negotiate with, and appoint Eco Mare Waste Management – or any other qualified contractor for that matter – to manage these dumpsites as stated in the appropriate legislation. It would be advisable that the district also engaged with the appointed task team who is presently responsible for managing TCM, and work out an acceptable long-term solution for the proper waste management within the TCM jurisdiction.”