Rodney Leak, Plumstead
For not the first time, I am complaining about the state of the Castletown Road verge and railway property between Park and Rockley roads, in Plumstead.
It is disgusting and a poor representation of the local neighbourhood.
I understand the mantra that, “People litter and dump,” but fail to understand how the relevant City departments and the rail authorities, and our local councillors, do not respond to a grossly unsightly mess, such as this.
Each time the railway embankment is cleared of weeds, the contractor stops between Park and Rockley roads. Why? The fence at the corner with Rockley Road has been in a state of disrepair for almost two years. Why?
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The verge is so overgrown that school kids and other pedestrians walk in the gutter.
The green litter bin regularly overflows and, apart from the waste, there is a strong smell of excrement.
In the image (cn rc leak let 1) the discarded files have the clearly visible Just Timbers label. Should they not be brought to book for dumping this waste?
This city works for you. No wonder the slogan has been removed.
Mayoral committee member for area south, Eddie Andrews, responds: A City solid waste management team cleans this road on a weekly basis. However, we will increase our monitoring for the area.
We urge residents to please report illegal dumping, littering and overflowing bins to the City at 0860 103 089 or SMS 31373. Residents should please request a reference number when such a service request is logged so they can follow up and we can ensure that action is taken.
There is no reason for residents to dump waste illegally. There are 24 drop-off sites around the city where residents can take their recycling, garage and garden waste, and clean builder’s rubble. Residents can drop off their waste with a vehicle carrying capacity not exceeding 1,5 tons on any day of the week, for free.
Asghir Sakier, of Timbercity Athlone, says a couple of weeks ago they cleared some old paperwork. All the documents were removed from folders, shredded and disposed of in the municipality bins. The folders were donated to one of the casual workers who said they needed them for a school in Khayelitsha. He is not sure how they landed up over the fence and says it is sad that someone would just dump things anywhere.
Daphne Kayster, marketing manager for Metrorail responds: Regarding fencing, we do our utmost to expedite the replacement of fencing and continue to motivate for additional funding. However we are also acutely aware that we are competing for finite resources.
The purpose of railway fencing is to primarily demarcate boundaries will not deter willful entry. Metrorail confirms that the fencing has been repaired with barbed wire to prevent access by vagrants.
Regarding litter, the waste within the rail reserve has been assessed. We confirm that the cleaning of the area has been included in a new cleaning contact. We can’t say exactly when the cleaning will start, although we expect it to be soon after the contract is awarded.