Municipality’s mountains of trash

DON’T be shocked this week if you arrive home to find your trash left in your driveway. And if you contact Umdoni, don’t hold your breath for answers. The Mail certainly hasn’t had any.

Despite countless meetings on what can be described as one of the most important topics – possibly more important than the flea market at this stage – the Humberdale dump site might soon face a forced closure due to a lack of controlled dumping and proper appointment of contractors, courtesy of the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Earlier this year it became apparent that the dump site’s capacity had been exceeded and since then the situation at the dump, simply put, spiraled out of control.

The management at the dump site – which is contracted out – is required to be supervised by a consulting engineer, neither of which were present up until not too long ago.

When a new contractor was finally appointed, certain issues – especially capacity issues – became apparent.

Initially the issue of capacity was addressed, but then, according to the Umdoni Democratic Alliance caucus: “The contractor ceased operation due to alleged non-payment. The consulting contract has also expired and has yet to be replaced.”

During the past few weeks, compaction of refuse at the site has not taken place and entry into the designated dumping site is now not possible. An employee at the dump confirmed that they were also striking due to alleged non-payment, adding that the dump site was, again, beyond capacity.

It has also become apparent that the weighbridge has been out of order for several weeks, further adding to uncontrolled dumping.

DA caucus: “There is no measurement of quantities or collection of revenues. The cost associated with the loss of airspace as well as the cost implications to restore the site to normal operations, could reasonably have been avoided.”

The DA caucus added that the current situation will amount to fruitless and wasteful expenditure, if and when it is resolved.

Yet again, this is a one-sided article, with no feedback having been received from Umdoni Municipality, despite our attempts, which seem to have fallen on deaf ears over the past few weeks.

“If the site is not restored and brought under control, the municipality’s refuse collection system will face closure. Such negligence is fast becoming the order of the day in Umdoni,” stated the DA caucus.

If Umdoni cannot get its trash in order soon, ratepayers might have to explore alternative avenues to determine a method of disposing their refuse.

Umdoni Municipality had not responded with feedback by the time of going to print.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram

For news straight to your phone, add us on BBM 58F3D7A7 or WhatsApp 082 421 6033