Mayor ready to get hands dirty
THERE is a new man in town and he is ready to get his hands dirty.
This was the message conveyed by the newlyelected Sol Plaatje executive mayor, Patrick Mabilo, to around 1 200 municipal workers during an early morning meeting at the Kimberley City Hall yesterday.
Mabilo addressed a hall-filled hall with workers from different municipal departments.
He urged everyone to ignite their passion for their designated professions and to work in partnership to make the city sparkle again.
“The staff at the municipality must put shoulder to the wheel and do what they are employed to do. We must make the cleaning of our streets, electricity problems, potholes and sanitation in the city a priority,” said Mabilo.
“Workers must remember they are also residents of this city, so we need to turn it into something we can be proud of. There are many staff members that are doing wonderful work and only a handful that need to get on board. All staff must be ambassadors of service delivery to our people.”
Mabilo said that he already had a jump-start on tackling burning issues in the city.
“These past 14 days we have been hard at work addressing various challenges in the city, like the sewage problems people are facing. We have been tackling dumping areas in the locations and have been cleaning up our suburbs. We also have an intense programme to address the sewerage problems we are faced with. We realised that the Homevale sewage plant is a challenge and we are in the process of addressing that. We cannot be reactive to problems but must be proactive in curbing them. That is the reason we need to address the source of the problem and address it. We want everyone to live in sewage-free communities … nobody must be forced to live in constant stench,” he said.
Mabilo called on residents and businesses in the city to also play their part.
“We have noticed that small businesses such as restaurants and hair salons are contributing to the filth in the city by dumping where and when they feel like it. Business owners must work according to the schedule of refuse collectors. As a municipality we collect refuse in various areas daily. On certain days we collect refuse in one area. People must not dump their refuse days in advance and let it pile up prior to collection days. That also adds to the deteriorating state of the city.
“The stench of urine in some parts of the city is also one we need to address. There are ablution facilities in the city that residents can make use of. However, some residents do not want to pay the fee required to use the facility and instead they urinate on the streets. This needs to stop.
“People need to take pride in their city. These problems cannot merely be addressed by the municipality alone, but everyone needs to play his or her part.”
He warned those who do not adhere to the bylaws that they will be dealt with.
“We have found that the implementation of bylaws on dumping is lacking. We will address this matter as people need to realise they cannot do as they please, often directly under a sign stating that their actions are illegal.