Sewage stink suffocates the Bluff

IMAGINE being subjected to starting you mornings to the repulsive stench of sewage for days and weeks on end. This is the nose-pinching reality of many Bluff residents due to issues of poorly managed sewer reports that don’t seek to resolve the root cause of the problem.

Several areas including Torquay Avenue, Millwood Road, Tara Road and the back of Bluff Hillside Mall, have been on the receiving end of sewage floods and nauseating odours, much to residents’ dismay.

Tara Road resident, Nikki Mackay explained how she had a waterfall of sewage flowing through the retainer wall near her home at the back of Hillside Mall, due to blocked lines on Olsen Road in November last year.

“Despite contractors coming out to look, it took over a month to resolve. Again on Sunday, 21 February, the sewage overflowed once again from the same area. This took a week to resolve. Even though this is not a public access area, the tenants and employees of the mall work in there and to have it flooded with sewage is a health risk. Part of the retainer wall and delivery access area driveway have also been damaged. The problem seems to be resolved temporarily but no real solution is found to prevent this from happening in future,” she said.

Another well-known affected area is the Kingfisher Creek Wetland Park which is a far cry from the pristine nature reserve it used to be years ago.

Lunga Shandu who lives and works in a church situated on the property of the wetland park said, “I have lived here for more than three years and this has been an issue throughout that time, to this day. Whenever there is a blockage at the pump station, sewage flows both into nature reserve as well as floods outside the church. The ground is even slowing eroding and it is dangerous to walk here now. The conditions are inhumane. Another inconvenience is that no one wants to smell or see this sewage when they come here to worship, not mention being bitten by the mosquitoes,” he said.

A neighbouring resident to the park, Garrick Clark said, “Having lived here for over a year now, we are yet to see the pump situation being sorted out. It does not work. There is a continual overflow of raw sewage into the nature reserve and sits there until it eventually evaporates. This is has become a health violation for anyone around the area. What’s worse is that there are even groups of people who come into the neglected park to drink and socialise there. I don’t think it’s appropriate for anyone to sit there amongst the sewage. It’s not a healthy environment for anybody. This is supposed to be a nature reserve, not a wetland of sewage where people drink and do drugs. The stench permeates into the surrounding homes. You cannot cook and enjoy your food. The mosquitoes this area attracts is another huge inconvenience. You can kill up to 70 mosquitoes in one night which is quite significant. We have reported the issue many times. Sometimes city officials come and attempt to repair the issue of the pump station, but all they really do is empty the blocked pump by releasing sewage into the nature reserve,” said Derrick. 

Aware of the ongoing sewage issue, ward 66 councillor Zoe Solomon said: “The pump house on the wetland is not working. The evidence, being the drain full of raw sewage and the overflow into what used to be a pond. Even the draining system made to ensure the pond doesn’t overflow, is blocked. Storm water is also running into this catchment. Municipal artisans have built a new manhole up the road to try alleviate this. This is a two-fold issue. An official from pollution control department came to the site to observe and investigate the area. He is going to compile a report which will hopefully have positive feedback. To say that the city hasn’t done anything would be unfair. However, they haven’t brought forth a feasible solution. That is the issue. People are living here and it’s dangerous.”