As soon as you enter Ext. 4 in Promosa, long before you have reached your destination, you get the smell of the dumping site.
The growing dump has become a great cause for concern for home-owners, who are forced to bear the stench of the refuse daily. Kopano Martins* says the municipality had not demonstrated urgency in dealing with the problem over the years.
“When you call the municipality, you wait on the phone for some time – and that’s if you’re lucky. Other days, their phone is just off,” he lamented. “They don’t seem to care. They haven’t come out to clear the site and it is now be- coming a health hazard. We live in a messed-up town and don’t get any help from the local authorities.”
Kopano said the residents had even tried to get together and clear the site at some point, but it had proven to be of no use. “Those who could, would get together and clean but, after a few days, we were back to square one,” he said.
Kopano says he has urged the community to recycle their waste and avoid illegal dumping but nothing seems to help. “People should consider the environmental impact of their waste habits. We cannot continue to live like this,” he said.
*Not his real name.
