The streets of Grahamstown have been in a filthy state of late. A number of residents have been complaining about the state of affairs.
Mary-Jane Moodie is particularly concerned about the litter which is dumped into the river under the bridge near Valley Trucks just off Beaufort Street.
The streets of Grahamstown have been in a filthy state of late. A number of residents have been complaining about the state of affairs.
Mary-Jane Moodie is particularly concerned about the litter which is dumped into the river under the bridge near Valley Trucks just off Beaufort Street.
The litter blocks the natural flow of the water which affects the whole water system, particularly during a drought.
She says that it can’t be that the municipality is under- staffed as “we have had more municipality workers than five years ago.
People need to be educated as well, not to throw their litter in the river. The rubbish pile in that area is frightening.
Why should they wait until the rubbish piles up until they clean it?” Moodie lives on a farm just outside Grahamstown and drives past the area on her way into town.
She says and said that it has been in this state for some time and this is unfair towards Grahamstown ratepayers.
Meanwhile, Grocott’s Mail discovered that there have been some delays in filling 14 vacancies in the Environment, Health and Cleansing Department.
Seven of these unfilled vacancies belong to street sweepers which has left some areas in Grahamstown unattended to.
Johan Esterhuizen of the Environment, Health and Cleansing department confirmed that there were vacancies open but these have now been filled.
These include street sweepers, domestic cleaners and general cleaners. The new employees are likely to start by the beginning of the National Arts Festival this weekend.
When asked if he thought that the cause of the unclean streets could be attributed to the number of unfilled vacancies for street cleaners, he agreed that this could have been the case.
He advised the public to be responsible in keeping pavements and front yards clear of refuse and for both businesses and households not to take out their refuse on noncollection days as the bags can be torn open by dogs.
“If we find out who the refuse belongs to, they will be fined,” Esterhuizen said. He said that plans to keep Grahamstown clean during the Festival period will involve employing extra casuals workers, which is what usually happens.
