Council to resolve waste management delays

Unattended refuse bags, garbage scattered on the side of the streets and the pungent smell of rotting food are some of the refuse removal crises currently affecting Potchefstroom.
Tlokwe City Council has promised to resolve the crisis and has acknowledged the concerns of the community.
According to Council spokesperson, Mr William Maphosa, the problem arose, “when a few municipal trucks needed to be serviced between November and December last year.
“However, in December, most companies were closed and we could not get the parts to repair the refuse trucks. The few trucks that operated over the festive season were overstretched as they had to cover an extended area of operation.”
“Consequently, our department of community services has had to reshuffle the refuse removal schedule and some communities that are used to receiving services from 07:00 are now only being attended to from 13:00 to 20:00. Unfortunately, the above-average day temperatures we have recently been experiencing did not help the situation. The refuse rots in these conditions, posing a health risk to the community,” he explained.
Despite this setback in collecting refuse and ensuring that the whole of Tlokwe is clean, Maphosa says they are doing their best to manage the situation.
“We are attending to the trucks that need servicing. However, we are ensuring that all service points are being serviced on the designated day according to the schedule.”
Maphosa identified the areas that are currently affected by the waste management delay.
“The areas most affected are businesses, Baillie Park, Mieder Park and some sections of Ikageng, where the trucks have to wait to take over from trucks which have finished their shift.”
According to Maphosa, the Council is already planning towards eradicating future waste management challenges that may arise.
“We anticipate that these challenges will be minimised in due course because we are urgently processing the procurement of two additional refuse compactor trucks, which we hope to receive within the next 3 months. The municipality is contemplating outsourcing the maintenance of the trucks instead of doing it in-house as is currently the case,” he concluded.