Municipality celebrates arrival of new garbage trucks

On Friday, 10 June, the J.B. Marks Local Municipality celebrated the arrival of three brand new service delivery vehicles.
At the ceremony, UD Trucks handed over a skip loader and two refuse compactor trucks to the J.B. Marks Local Municipality. The MMC for municipal services, Mantwa Kasale, said the new additions to the existing fleet come at a time of immense demand for waste removal within the community. “This will enable our officials to efficiently and timeously collect and dispose of waste in and around our communities,” she said.

The acting municipal manager, Sandile Tyatya, took the opportunity to thank the political leadership for assisting them by ensuring the delivery of the vehicles and tools. According to Tyatya, the delivery was long-awaited as the Covid-19 pandemic had previously disrupted it. “With these trucks, we aim to service the community and ensure that we service the different wards in the municipality to the best of our ability,” he said.

The executive mayor, Gaba Ka Qhele, said the trucks arrived at the right time. He said the municipality strives to acquire more tools to enable swift service delivery to the residents. The mayor urged the relevant management departments to ensure the vehicles were used for what they were initially ordered for. “It is important for the people in our community to receive proper service delivery on time,” he said. “Waste management has been a serious issue in our community and we look forward to the new delivery making our job much easier.”

The mayor further asked the employees to help restore the dignity the municipality once had by taking good care of the trucks and not misusing them. He thanked them for continuing to work with what they had, despite the shortage of resources.
The speaker, Moithoesi Rosy Dassie, added that J.B. Marks was previously known as the City of Expertise. “The status of our municipality is no longer dignified due to corruption. It is our responsibility to change that,” she said. “We urge employees to drive these vehicles as if they were their own by being mindful of potholes, sticking to the speed limit and using them strictly for work purposes.”