Stinking refuse site to close temporarily

A garden refuse disposal site that had been causing a stink in Roohuiskraal will be closed for two weeks for maintenance.

Rekord had previously reported that residents complained the facility was becoming an unbearable nuisance in the community.

According to a message to ward councillors in the area, the Tshwane metro waste management department will implement measures to address the backlog at Rooihuiskraal and Menlo garden sites.

The message admitted that budget constraints at the metro had caused the problem.

“It is common knowledge that fitting the vehicle allocation within the available budget until the end of the financial year had an impact on the operations of the sites,” the letter read.

“This resulted in reduced equipment causing the overflowing of many garden refuse sites, which were unable to cope with the incoming volumes.”

To cope with the volumes at the dumps in the current financial constraints, the department said that the following measures would be implemented:

– The garden refuse sites would be closed for up to two weeks for maintenance.

– All garden waste operators would be directed to the nearest landfill as an alternative during the closure.

JJ Van Rensburg, the manager at nearby Wierda Glen Estate, said that the smell at his estate has been a big problem to residents.

“The smell inside the estate, which is next to the dumpsite, has become a real problem especially some nights when the wind blows the smell towards our estate.”

He said that residents were forced to keep their windows closed to keep the smell out. “They would rather endure the heat than the smell.”

The facility processes garden refuse brought in by local residents.

An image posted on Facebook shows large volumes of refuse filling the facility.

Letitia Steyn commented: “I lived near there a few years ago. And it’s certainly not a problem that has just come up.

It sometimes stinks so badly that the smell hangs in one’s house and one is almost too nauseous to eat especially in the summer on very hot days. And then one cannot dare to open windows.”

Councillor Cindy Billson welcomed the news, but was disappointed by the lack of communication.

Billson said she has been attending to the residents’ complaints for some time, more than a year, but that the problem had become worse.

“Although three councillors are actively engaging with the city manager, I only heard about this via garden service businesses who contacted me.

It’s a pity that the city manager did not discuss nor communicate this to us.”

She said that ward councillors do not have the authority to make operations decisions for the city.

“Only all councillors as a whole, i.e. all 214 councillors as a collective, can make a decision during a council sitting that directs decision and operational activity.

“In this case, it appears as if a decision was made by the group head,” she said.

Metro spokesperson Lindela Mashigo, said: “The city is working tirelessly to maintain and operate the site as per the regulations”.

He said the facility received garden waste from the surrounding community, and stored it there temporarily before it was hauled to a landfill site for final disposal.

Mashigo said that the backlog was due to “cost containment” measures.

“The city had to reduce the equipment at various waste disposal facilities.

The reduction of equipment was implemented to ensure that operations are carried out within the allocated budget of the current financial year as required by law.

The cost containment measures will be in effect for the remaining months of the financial year.”

Mashigo said that the situation would be reviewed in the new financial year.

Mashigo later said the city would only allow waste transport permit holders with a vehicle capacity of 1 ton or above on the sites.

He said residents that dispose of less than 1 ton a week in garden waste are not required to apply for the permit, thus can access these facilities free of charge.

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