Concerned Petervale residents find solutions to pubic consumptions, drugs and fights at park
PETERVALE – The discussion which was led by one of the residents, Michael Krige, took place at the drug and alcohol infested park just opposite the Petervale Centre
A park located near a preschool in Petervale has been a hotspot of illegal alcohol consumption, usage of drugs and fights for more than a decade.
Residents came together on November 24 with Ward 106 councillor Chris Santana, to discuss a possible solution to eradicate the harmful factors surrounding the area.
The discussion, which was led by one of the residents, Michael Krige, took place at the drug and alcohol infested park just opposite the Petervale Centre. All of the community members, shop owners and security companies shared a common threat that took the form of individuals loitering at the Petervale park with bottles of alcohol and drugs.
“There has been ongoing public drinking, fighting and the sale of drugs in our area. It has escalated into muggings and other illegal activities which are affecting us. We decided as a community to stand together with the local Community Police Forum (CPF), ward councillor and the local security companies to find a legal solution to fix this before it gets out of hand,” said Krige.
A fence securing the park on specific timeframes was seen as a quick way forward by most of the residents until a representative of the CPF and Chris Santana disapproved the idea, this resulted in a second solution of adopting the park.
Santana’s role during the discussion with the community was to assist the community in finding a valid and realistic solution to the problem which was then followed up by the steps and timeframe which it would take.
“We are trying to eliminate the dangerous issues such as the selling of drugs and also protecting the preschool that is close to the park. The community needs to present the proposal of adopting the park to the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo. What the organisation will then do is probably have a meeting with the residents. If they see that the intent on adopting the park is good then they will most likely get the approval within six months from now,” concluded Santana.
