Waste gets up the nose of Marloth community
This beautiful town's residents, who bought in this area to get away from the city's smoke and smog, now have to contend with the same pollution as in major cities.
MARLOTH PARK – Residents, especially those living close to the local dumping site, have to live with smoke and toxic fumes as a result of illegal waste being burnt. According to those living in Rinkhals Avenue even aerosol cans, batteries and plastic are being incinerated on site.
Residents complain of continuous sinus and flu-like symptoms, lung problems and headaches. In an area known for its clean air and healthy environment, the health of residents are being compromised, especially those suffering from asthma and circulatory health issues. Soot from the area is blown into homes, onto decks and roofs and loud bangs are regularly heard as dangerous substances, thrown into the fire, explode.
A Norwegian engineer who has been living in the town since 2004 is now returning to Norway, but will return with the expectation to see a difference. A lot of residents are former professional business people and are adamant that they will not allow the situation to continue.
The site is situated in the middle of an urban area, but had been decommissioned a few years ago by the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NKLM).
According to an investigation by Corridor Gazette, a new location was identified south of the N4, in the direction of Tonga. However, the newspaper’s search for a licence, either for the old or the proposed new site, came up empty-handed. No such licence could be found, either at NKLM or at the department of environmental affairs.
A former health inspector said that such a site would be condemned by any health inspector.
The man, who wanted to remain anonymous, said after a certificate had been issued condemning a dumping site, residents would be able to take legal steps against the responsible municipality.
He also said that because of the high health and environmental hazards linked to rubbish burning, there were high demands on equipment, methods and control. Looking at photos of the furnace at the Marloth Park dump site, he said it was definitely not designed to handle general rubbish burning, as there was no airflow or temperature control, no filters, the chimney was too short and no checks or follow-up notices of inspections, existed.
The Marloth Park Property Owners Association (MPPOA), the ratepayers association in the town, told Corridor Gazette that the dumping site had been on the agenda with the municipality for quite some time, but nothing has so far been done. Marloth Park does not have its own municipal offices such as Komatipoort and other towns falling under NKLM and the MPPOA acts as a voice for residents. The town has experienced many problems with water supply, waste management and electricity supply over many years. Now members of MPPOA have stepped forward as volunteers to manage the dumping site.
Ms Allison Fitzgerald and Mr Dean Jones, property owners in the town, told the newspaper that somebody had to step in and do something about the rubbish in the streets of Marloth Park. They were paying for a lot of things out of their own pockets and donations and now manage a group of people to recycle the waste. Only about 20 per cent of this waste cannot be recycled and ends up in the furnace.
The Marlothi Nature Conservancy has been registered with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, but it seems as if this status doesn’t guarantee pristine waste management.
Mr Alf Felgate, chairman of the Conservancy, told the paper there seemed to be an impression that the residents of Marloth Park were rich and that the municipality expected them to look after themselves.
“The municipality might be feeling that it owes its supporters in poorer communities more than it owes Marloth Park, but it is not fair of NKLM to think so.”
The newspaper contacted three different municipal officials at NKLM for comment, but no response was received at the time of going to print.
