Not enough is being done
A resident feels that more pro-active citizens and councillors are needed.
A former councillor and an Oaklands resident is concerned about how not enough is being done in terms of service delivery. Martin Sweet expressed his frustration with the lack of service from both Pikitup and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).
He also voiced his concerns that the councillor was not catching the ball as he said, I am not against council, however, I feel we need councillors who fight for residents. If they see that something can’t get done, then they should take it up with the people in charge of council or report to local media like Caxton. From February, I’ve been notifying our councillor about huge potholes.
He said the drains were not functioning and the potholes and the rain water problems were at places that inconvenience a lot of people. He shared an example of a pothole, the size of a bath, right opposite a local synagogue where a lot of cars park.
Sweet reported other potholes to JRA on the corners of Victoria and Pretoria streets and Pretoria and Fourth streets for which he received reference numbers but these had still not been attended to.
The resident also reported to Pikitup regarding their employees threatening residents in Currie Street, Oaklands, that they would not remove refuse if there was grass, leaves (cabbage leaves) or cuttings in the refuse bags in the bin. Sweet said this was unacceptable because residents pay taxes for waste removal and Pikitup’s team’s refusal to take the refuse was illegal and that there were many elderly residents in the area that depend on Pikitup to remove their refuse.
The Gazette took a tour around some of the pothole-infested streets in Oaklands on April 28 and witnessed non-functional drains and barricaded potholes. The JRA was contacted a week before for comments but had not responded at the time of going to print.
Spokesperson for Pikitup, Muzi Mkhwanazi said, Garden refuse is not picked up by Pikitup nor the refuse teams. There are garden site facilities for residents to use to dispose of their garden waste. This applies to all suburbs; this is an old policy and residents are aware of it. The garden site nearest to Oaklands is the Melrose Garden Site on Melrose Road and is operational from 07:30 to 17:00.
Ward 73 councillor Eleanor Huggett said, I would love to be in a city that could provide all the assistance possible to all the residents but there are massive financial restraints and the City is on the verge of collapse. At present, we only have two vehicles for recycling.
The new administration is doing everything it can to resolve all the issues, but as councillor, I can only work with the resources we have and do the best I can to assist the residents with the current situation and work for a much better future.
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