Sewage and uncollected rubbish cause a stink
Residents have been forced to live with unpleasant conditions for almost two months.
A FOUL stench from spilling sewage and piling heaps of rubbish on Peacehaven Place on the Bluff have turned the place into an eyesore.
These are the unpleasant conditions residents have had to live with for almost two months. According to the caretaker at Pengelly Court, Bulelani Dungelo, refuse is supposed to be collected on Monday and Friday.
He said the infrequency of collection sometimes means picking up scattered rubbish after it is ravaged through by a vagrant or animals.
“Refuse collection is really a cause for concern for me. DSW is meant to collect it by 7.30am on collection days and I always make sure that I’ve gathered all bags an hour early. There is also a vagrant who lives in the bushes nearby, if the bags are not collected on time, he goes through the heaps of rubbish. The collectors only pick up the refuse bags that are still intact and leave the damaged or opened ones.”
“This leaves me with a problem because I have to start all over and pick up the scattered rubbish. We’ve reported him to the police who take him away. But he disappears for a few days and then returns. If DSW could at least hold their end of the bargain and collect the refuse bags at 7.30am as per the norm, it would make things much easier,” he said.
Concerned resident, Patrick Mhlathi, said the general upkeep of their road is unlike the rest of the suburb, as he feels that not much maintenance happens.
“The sewer issue is really bothersome. The spillage is at least approaching the second month now. The cover got damaged by a truck that drove over it and now sewage just spills on the road.”
“Truck drivers also drive over the heaps of refuse bags that either get squished or scattered on the road. When grass cutters finally get here, they don’t clean up after themselves. And they can take up to six months to show up again. My question is why is it that all the other roads on the Bluff are properly and regularly maintained but not ours?” he probed.
The spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality, Msawakhe Mayisela said blocked manholes continue to be a problem in the city despite the speed at which they are moving to see to the matter through.
“What is compounding our woes is that some members of the public continue to dispose of foreign objects into the system resulting in blockages. The city receives reports of manhole blockages from time to time and responds to them but within a short space of time, we find ourselves having to go back to square one.”
“We also have a serious concern of our residents who are invading the land and later on connect illegally to our system, with the material, which is not compatible with the system, resulting in its malfunction. eThekwini will never derive any joy from subjecting its residents to manholes are that blocking.”
“For us to be able to win the war against blocking, manholes we need to work together unceasingly by heeding all the calls made by the municipality to residents to refrain from dumping foreign objects into the system,” he said.
He added that in terms of the refuse collection, he was unaware of any strike action affecting the Bluff area but advised residents experiencing issues with refuse collection to contact DSW on 031-311-8841.
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