Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
City dumping waste illegally, say irate Hout Bay residents
HOUT Bay residents have accused the city of dumping waste illegally in Victoria Road, while claiming it pays as much as R200 million annually to clean up refuse.
Hout Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Len Swimmer accused the city of “blatantly ignoring our calls for the removal of its dump”.
“Why they haven’t removed their dump, and why they did it in the first place, is beyond explanation. They’re the city after all, and should have led by example,” he charged.
According to Swimmer, the dump is between a wetland and a river, and is therefore illegal.
“We’ve complained about it several times, and after being ignored after many pleas, we decided to take it up with (the provincial) government.”
The provincial government has formally informed the association that the city would be fined.
“Although we believe the province has acted promptly, the city just sat back and did nothing. They’ve been issued with three warnings and a directive, which they have ignored,” Swimmer said.
However, Gert Bam, the city’s director of sports, said the residents were to blame.
“The city is not dumping in this area. The area was mistakenly used as a stockpiling area for waste generated from road works,” he said, adding that this was halted at the end of April. A “No Dumping” sign was then erected there.
“A request was circulated among city line functions for the cessation of the activity in the last week of April. Any subsequent dumping was done by private citizens,” Bam charged.
He added that the dumped material was being cleared and the city was in the process of rehabilitating the area.
This was in co- operation with the provincial govern-