Matters at Aberdeen tip worse than ever
ABERDEEN — The Graaff-reinet Advertiser has reported several times about the state of the municipal dumping ground in Aberdeen, and it is now in a worse state than ever before.
The layout of the site is such that, turning in from the N9, drivers cross a grid, and then travel about 350m along a dirt road, through poles which presumably once held gates, and then the road swings to the right and then right again into the normal offloading area.
In July it was reported that the access road was still fenced on the left before the road bends round to the right, but most of the fencing had already been removed. Another dump site behind the fencing on the left had sprung up at this stage, where people were leaving their rubbish as it is impossible to access the main site due to unstructured heaps of rubbish everywhere. The fencing on the end, facing Lotusville, had been completely removed, with only a few rusty poles remaining.
In September, local engineering company Penny Farthing’s Site Manager Lawrence Lekgari obtained authorisation from the company’s head office to use one of their Bobcat front-end loaders to clear the access road. Over a period of two days, the Bobcat pushed all the rubbish lining the approach road towards the designated dumping area, leaving it in heaps to make it easier for the municipal vehicles to complete the job. Although this obviously should not be the responsibility of a private company, residents were very grateful for Penny Farthing’s contribution.
The access road itself is now being used for dumping, as vehicles cannot negotiate the piles of rubbish. The plastic bags in the veld are visible from the national road, not an attractive site or a good advertisement for the municipality for all the tourists streaming past during the holiday period. Last week, matters came to something of a head when a resident watched the municipal refuse truck actually dumping in the veld. The photo she took, unfortunately, is of poor quality, as the resident was afraid of the reactions of the workers if she was seen to be taking a photo. It is still clear enough to see though where the truck is dumping - well away from the correct area.
In a response from Wilca Smith, Acting Communications Officer of Dr. Beyers Naude Local Municipality, it was stated that the dumping at the landfill site had been reported last week to the relevant department.
“Currently, the municipality is experiencing problems at the landfill sites but are working on finding a solution,” said Smith. According to many frustrated residents, this must surely qualify as the understatement of the year.