Tourist disappointed in Barberton’s litter issue

BARBERTON – Patrick Moore writes:

After being away from Barberton for six years, I was looking forward to going on holiday in your beautiful town once again. As a history enthusiast I was impressed by the town museum’s progress, while the tourist-information centre’s staff were even more helpful than I remembered. Staff members were as friendly as ever, but the lack of an upmarket restaurant was disappointing.
Unfortunately an even bigger let-down awaited me and my friend on the Eco Quads ride across to Greenstone Estate. We had just enjoyed the sight of some beautiful veld flowers, only to be confronted by a disgusting display of human churlishness, in the form of rubbish dumped alongside the trail, in violation of any standard of decent, civilised behaviour. The nearby Monte Vista houses from which it probably came, looked pretty upmarket, so there’s no excuse for their inhabitant’s behaviour, as Barberton definitely has a municipal rubbish-collection service.
CI can only hope that this letter and my photograph will cause the authorities to take action against the offenders, as Barberton deserves better than to have its natural beauty defaced by a few slobs intent on making a new suburb resemble a squatter camp.

Dear Patrick
Thank you for your concern regarding our town. We are ashamed to confess that we are aware of these selfish litterbugs in our community and believe the authorities should seriously deal with these culprits. Most locals, I can assure you, try their best to stifle this behaviour.
As far as the restaurants are concerned, most Barbertonians love the family-style, laid-back atmosphere of the restaurants in our town, but from what you write a setting such as Josephine’s, which opened last week, would have been more to your liking. Fortunately you will have the pleasure of visiting it next time you’re in town.
– Editor