Loskop Road sees much needed service delivery thanks to businessman

Loskop Road serves as an entrance and exit point to Estcourt, and its image is the first impression that may stick with some visitors.

READ THIS: Frustrated Seventh Avenue homeowner’s pleas fall on deaf ears

Litter, abandoned by residents or carelessly tossed out of vehicles, lines this street and businessman Archie Smythe has been trying for years to clean up the road.  On Friday morning, his patience ran out and he took a proactive approach.

“I got two of my staff on the road to pick up the litter and I eventually got the manager at the municipality to answer his phone. I told him I was going to dump all of the litter at his office and within five minutes, he sent staff members,” said Mr Smythe while seated with the two staff from the municipality in his office.

He stressed that while he was not blaming municipal staff for the litter, he wanted a positive approach from the department concerned.

“I am blaming the residents and the taxi association that brings people into town, as they throw rubbish out of the windows. It is our municipality’s responsibility to educate people against this kind of behaviour and to clean it up,” said Mr Smythe.

He says he requested waste skips to be placed in strategic areas; this was about three years ago.

“A skip was placed in Albert Street, but it was never cleaned out and people dumped dead animals and together with the domestic refuse. It was terrible! When it was removed, people started to leave their rubbish on the side of the road,” he added.

But it is not just Loskop Road and illegal dumping that has frustrated Mr Smythe to a point where he has approached the Estcourt News to publicly relay his concerns.

“In Brewitt Park, illegal dumping is rife. I have been reporting it for four to five years. For the past five years, I have been repairing potholes here on a Sunday. I fetch the shale, wet it and place it in the holes.

“This is only a temporary solution. The municipality started cutting trees and they ruined most of the trees.  “It seems like they cut only the big trees and take only the big branches away to either use or sell as firewood. The twigs and debris is left for the residents to remove,” he explained.

“Just clean up our town and stop lying about programmes that never happen. The administration is rotten!” said a seething Mr Smythe.

These concerns and allegations of alleged misuse of municipal vehicles and resources have been sent to Inkosi Langalibalele Local Municipality for a response, but none was received at the time of this post.

ALSO SEE: Exciting ‘Litter for Tokens’ project rolled out at Riverdale Primary

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