Ideal conditions to resume Paddadam clean-up

NOW that the drought has created the ideal conditions to work efficiently, Doug Grewar, intends to resume the Paddadam Clean-up Campaign.

The former chairman of the AbaQulusi Ratepayers’ Association is now appealing, “To all those good people who supported the campaign in 2014 and 2015, come to the party one last time and help restore the pleasant and once popular recreational, picnic and braai area for Vryheid families to enjoy.”

Going back into the history of the Park Street park, where the ‘Paddadam’ is located, Mr Gewar explains, “The dam at the park was built many years ago to provide a relaxing and tranquil area for families to spend time. Sadly, for several years, there was no maintenance on the dam and it became clogged up with reeds and kariba weed. Drunken hooligans threw thousands of beer bottles into the dam endangering the children who paddled there. People even dumped builder’s rubble and rubbish into the dam. From a beautiful dam it turned into a stinking cess pool that was a hazard to residents’ health.”

He continued, “In 2014, a group of concerned residents had a meeting at the Paddadam and decided to start the Paddadam Clean-up Campaign. It was led by Bennie Hancke, the Ward 9 councillor, Ferdie van Niekerk, the dominee of Vryheid’s famous Klipkerk, and myself, as chairman of Abaqulusi Residents Association. It was an attempt to prove that a public facility that had been allowed to rot away could, with co-operation between the residents and the municipality, be restored to its former glory. We hoped that this would prove that all the other things that have deteriorated in Abaqulusi could also be turned around.”

According to Mr Grewar, a large number of community members and companies had made contributions of money, materials and labour, and last year the municipality came to the party with the acting municipal manager, Bongiwe Mnikathi, providing a TLB and a 10 ton tipper truck for four Saturdays in a row.

“In 2014, we worked for nine weeks before the rains stopped us. Again in 2015, we worked for 11 weeks until the rains stopped us. The muddy conditions made work difficult and we had to lay down paths of gum poles, for the machines to move on, without getting stuck.”

“Now that the bone dry conditions brought about by the drought will make it possible for the machines to work much more efficiently, we need to start removing the piles of mud and silt that we piled up last year. It is a shame to leave a job half done, so it is now or never. I will try to arrange a meeting of all those good people who supported the clean-up campaign in 2014 and 2015 to appeal to them to come to the party one last time.”

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