Although municipal staff are cleaning beaches, there are no 4×4 vehicles available to collect the refuse, as vehicles that were in use have over a period been removed from duty as their rusted chassis rendered them unsafe.
Panorama Park resident Wilma Heesakkers complained that council workers only cleaned in front of Karridene Hotel and Natalia up to the station and left all the rubbish from there to the Illovo River mouth on the beach.
“My husband and I have picked up plastic and all sorts of other stuff for well over a week, with the help of a handful of people at the weekend,” she said.
“We left all the bags on the beach in one big pile for the council to come and collect, as we are pensioners and to drag all that stuff over the high dunes to the road would have been too much for us.
We have been in contact with the Sapphire Coast Tourism people, who passed on our predicament to the right people, but to date nothing has happened.
A lot of the bags are being covered in sand, which we have had to lift so they would not be totally covered. While I understand the council has much bigger problems than rubbish on the beach, I feel we still should think of the environment and the health issue.
Thanks to a young man called Mbekani, who works for La Mer as a security guard. He brought up most of the bags that are still waiting to be collected by council.”
Ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge said the reason the bags have not been collected is partly due to the city not heeding previous recommendations to rotate coastal and inland vehicles every three years, thereby prolonging their lifespan.
“Certain entities like the Warner Beach Ski-Boat Club, arranged collections with their tractor and trailer.
I have been informed the city fleet is in the process of hiring vehicles, while supply chain management concludes replacement contracts,” he said.
Residents or groups who wish to assist with beach clean-up operations are encouraged to focus on the area between Pipeline and the golf course, as well as Dakota beach on the opposite side of the river mouth.
Bags still to be collected and accumulated above the high water mark can be reported to Cllr Beetge on 082-718-8137 so arrangements can be made for collection.
