POLOKWANE – Residents of the RDP section of Westenburg say their neighbourhood looks like a pigsty because of the municipal skip bins not being emptied regularly.
There are two municipal skip bins in Grand Canyon Street, with a notice board stating that anyone caught dumping refuse illegally will be liable to pay a fine of R1 000.
However, this warning does not prevent residents from dumping their refuse all around the skip bins instead of in them.
“The municipality collects rubbish on a Thursday in Westenburg, but their times for collection change every week. Some mornings they come before 07:30 and sometimes late in the afternoon. This causes confusion and sometimes we miss the truck and then we have nowhere else to dump our rubbish, except at the skip bins. These bins are not emptied regularly and then we have no choice but to dump the rubbish next to the bin,” one resident explained.
Review visited the area and found one of the municipal skip bins overflowing with rubbish. Next to the skip bin rubbish was scattered everywhere.
Not far from this bin there was another municipal skip bin. This bin was empty and the rubbish was dumped next to the skip bin.
Tidimalo Chuene, a municipal spokesperson, said the municipality realised that waste was dumped illegally on a regular basis in some parts of Westenburg, and urged residents to refrain from doing this.
“Anybody who is caught doing this will be issued with a notice and fine of up to R1 200. Residents must dispose of their waste in the skip bins and not near them as the skip bins are provided for that purpose. The bins are cleaned once they are full and the streets are cleaned once a week.
“Education and awareness is done on a continuous basis in the area and ‘no dumping’ boards placed to warn residents against this illegal practise,” Chuene said.
