Clean-up project on track

Excellent news for Mossel Bay is that the train track along the coastline is to be cleared of rubbish and the vegetation is to be trimmed and neatened.

It has taken many months of hard work for Ward 8 member Susan Zaayman to get the project under way.

What is also positive is that a horticulturist is involved so no valuable indigenous vegetation will be destroyed.

The train track is on land owned by Transnet. A contractor from Port Elizabeth has been clearing the tracks, but as from about May, a Mossel Bay-based contractor will take over the project from the Port Elizabeth one. The rail tracks are in Ward 8.

Mossel Bay deputy mayor Dirk Kotzé, who is the councillor responsible for Ward 8 and to whom Zaayman reports, said: "I have extremely active ward members. I commend them for their hard work and especially Susan Zaayman. We have been battling to get this project under way for years. Prior to this the ward members organised the trimming of the bougainvillaea branches which were trailing on to George Road."

Kotzé said the train track was in a strategic position in Mossel Bay. The neatening of the area alongside the tracks would have a positive impact on tourism, which has been identified as the key sector through which to grow the Mossel Bay economy.

The need for a public train to transport members of the public between Hartenbos and Santos has been highlighted before.

A team from Transnet in Port Elizabeth headed by assistant horticulturist Martiens Pokbas were in Mossel Bay to clean up the track one last time before the Mossel Bay contractor takes over in about May. Pokbas said a qualified horticulturist would be taking over from him.