Councillor highlights outreach projects and new challenges for Bluff residents
Ward 66 councillor, JP Prinsloo, and his dedicated committee members and volunteers have established three key focus areas and developed initiatives to support each of these areas.
IN an effort to keep the Bluff community informed and updated amidst the wave of uncertainty that has been brought on by the Covid-19 lockdown, ward 66 councillor JP Prinsloo, has provided clarity on widespread concerns.
Outreach projects
Prinsloo and his dedicated ward 66 committee members and volunteers have established three key focus areas and developed initiatives to support each of these areas. These areas include the relief of hunger, water and sanitation access and infection prevention.
The Bluff Covid-19 relief programme has distributed more than 1 400 parcels and 1 000 hot meals, all funded by donations received by the Bluff community. “This is run by the Vulnerable Groups ward committee chairperson, Zoe Solomon and her team. The initiative has been a massive success, but does require more donations to keep going. The ward has received no food hampers from the municipality and seven Sassa parcels (provincial government).
“A joint partnership between community members, eThekwini Municipality and local NGOs provided access to running water to all residents, both formal and informal, including the distribution of sanitary products such as hand sanitiser and soap.
“In terms of infection prevention, we are currently establishing a face mask task team consisting of local residents sewing masks for the most vulnerable people within our community. These people volunteer their time and we supply them with material to sew face masks,” said Prinsloo.
New challengesÂ
One of the biggest challenges that have arisen due to the lockdown is the continued illegal dumping by local residents, at the Tara Road Garden Refuse Site. “Even after public notices were published and signage erected at the site, people continue dumping their garden refuse and other domestic waste outside of the gates. This has jeopardised the health of the surrounding residents and the environment, and cost the city an enormous amount of money (ratepayers’ money) to remove the illegal dumping,” he said.
The restriction of the CPF and its members to assist SAPS with community policy has severely constrained the already limited resources available to SAPS. “As a result, there has been an increase in criminal activity across the Bluff area. These limitations are as a result of a national government decision and not that of the station or the CPF, who are on the ground dealing with community crime. Both CPF members and SAPS members are frustrated by these restrictions,” said Prinsloo.
Law enforcement
“Brighton Beach Police has been doing a stellar job working with resources they have available. They have assisted whenever called upon. The majority of Bluff residents have been abiding by the lockdown rules, but there are still large portions of our community that have not been abiding by these rules. Unfortunately, there is limited resources available to enforce lockdown regulations and as a result offenders continued as normal.”
Misinformation
“The distribution of inaccurate information and data on the Covid-19 virus has been problematic. People must only share reliable and verifiable information from trusted sources. It creates unnecessary panic among community members.
“If people want relevant information they can find it on the Bluff community noticeboard Facebook page or any official government Facebook page,” concluded Prinsloo.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. For any comments or queries, contact the National Group Editor, Irma Green at irma@caxton.co.za or the Legal Adviser, Helene Eloff at  helene@caxton.co.za.
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