50 tonnes of waste removed from Hennops in various clean-ups
As much as 50 tonnes of waste was removed from the polluted Hennops river in various clean-up initiatives held in October.
“Since the flood on 5 October, we have bagged 2 100 bags of trash and facilitated the removal of over 300 tonnes of waste by TLB and tipper trucks from our river,” Hennops Revival founder Tarryn Johnston said.
Johnston explained the 2 100 bags equated to 52.5 tonnes (52 500kg) of garbage.
“The past three weeks have been more than intense since the flooding – cleaning the rubbish, having rain, cleaning and repeating that all over again.”
Johnston said removing the waste brought on by flooding, the rain and alleged illegal dumping, proved to be a difficult task.
“We have been beyond knee-deep in sewage – our bodies worked until breaking point.
“We had to manage labourers, transportation, moving, storage, wages, lunches, planning the next clean-up, arranging sponsors, calling for donations and spontaneous emergency clean-ups as well, while still having a home life and the responsibilities of a single parent along with another business which puts food on the table.”
She, however, noted “we didn’t choose this, we were chosen”.
Johnston also said they remained resolute in tackling the waste and dumping problem at the river regardless of reportedly being told what they were doing was “pointless and that we are wasting our time”.
They were also reportedly told to tackle the problem at the source “as it is a destination”.
“Even if it was a destination and everything could be stopped at one point, there would be a mountain of issues right there – social development; waste management; rural development; housing; education; industrial pollution; sewage and sewage systems; service delivery; encroachment of wetlands; corruption; greed; poverty; inequality; disconnection; overpopulation; carelessness; political will; unconscious consumerism and apathy are all part of, but not limited to, the source,” Johnston said.
The determined woman posed a call to action for residents as “the state of our water is at crisis point”.
“This is where we live, this is our river and we should all be doing something because there is no time to wait for anyone else to do it and no time to blame.”
Last week, she said an investigation was underway to establish where a recent “white blanket of polystyrene” stemmed from as it was believed a business was behind it.
“We do not believe that this was caused by recyclers, the quantity is just too much, too huge.”
“It’s close to 200 tonnes and recyclers do not recycle polystyrene,” Johnston said.
Read original story on rekordeast.co.za
