Waste has been heaping up at dump sites, and with the continuous rain in Centurion, the situation has only gotten worse.
Residents complained about the backlog at the dump site in Kruger Avenue, as the waste and rubble could not be removed as scheduled. Ward councillor Vickey Bosch received feedback from the operational manager of the dump site, Herman Booysens, who gave an explanation on the current situation at the mini-dump site in Kruger Avenue.
“Firstly, I want to mention that two of the municipality’s main landfills, namely the Kwagga and Garstkloof dump sites, were closed during December last year, which resulted in enormous loads of refuse being redirected to the garden refuse transfer stations,” Booysens said.
Booysens also said that garden waste was removed from this dump site with a 30-ton truck and transported to the main dump site.
“It has been raining continuously for more than two weeks, which has caused the main dump site to become inaccessible, as it has not been paved. “Solid material must be driven and compacted into this dump site to make it possible for trucks to gain access,” Booysens said. “All personnel are trying their best to handle the same volumes of garden waste that need to be removed.”
Booysens admitted that the Tshwane metro had a shortage of the 22sqm containers in which the refuse could be dumped. “An order to repair these bins was placed in December, but as we all know, at that time of the year all businesses were closed down,” Booysens wrote. He did, however, confirm that some of the bins were repaired this year and there were additional bins placed at various sites.
According to Booysens businesses such as garden services, drum services, corporate services and so forth abused the mini-dump sites such as the one in Kruger Avenue. “They flooded the garden refuse dump sites in such a way that the infrastructure was not able to be maintained,” he said.
The garden refuse transfer station facilities were developed decades ago and were put in place for use by homeowners only, not for businesses.
The Tshwane metro never adjusted its infrastructure to accommodate any kind of business on these facilities, neither did they subsidise these businesses in travelling or the time spent on travelling. According to Booysens, no vehicles greater than one ton are legally allowed on these facilities.
“These businesses ignored this rule for convenience purposes, knowing that any load of refuse, whether it is on a trailer or bakkie, greater than one ton should dump at the nearest or closest available landfill site,” Booysens said.
As a result of the non-adherence and misuse of these facilities by these businesses, this rule will be put in place again and no exception to the rule will be made, as this will be strictly monitored, Booysens assured. New conditions of entry boards were erected at mini-dump sites clearly indicating what types of vehicles and materials would be allowed entry to these facilities.
According to Booysens, the dump’s management would put their resources into solving the problem and assured residents that they would develop better service delivery within their framework. Businesses must make use of the Hatherly dump site on Solomon Mahlangu Drive.
