More than 300kg of waste was collected at the beachfront and the rest of ward two during a recent clean-up by residents as part of International Coastal Clean-up Day.
Ward councillor, Renaldo Gouws, said that in celebration of this day, which honours a very important environmental initiative, focus was placed on various areas in wards one and two.
More than 20 residents and even children from the Maranatha Streetworkers Trust assisted with clean-up.
At the end of a long day working towards restoring the beachfront to its former glory, several huge trailers were packed to the brim with waste collected from the grass all the way to the sand dunes. Some of the trailers even contained waste such as cables and wires.
“The waste we collected consisted mostly of fast food packets, empty cans and used clothing that was thrown away. The cables that we recovered were definitely the same ones stolen from the Lifesaving Club and stripped from the metal,” Gouws said.
He mentioned that due to the wind, most of the waste found in the sand dunes come from residential areas such as Central. “I actually found an envelope with a Central address on it in the sand,” he added.
According to Gouws, there was definitely more waste than usual as it has been six months since the ward had its last clean-up due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I can, however, say that there has been an improvement in the area because the grass has been cut, the toilet facilities secured properly and new lighting is in the process of being installed.”
Gouws said the residents had been amazing and went above and beyond with the initiative.
“It also seems that the municipality is finally starting to play its part; it’s just unfortunate that the maintenance could not have been kept up to par during the lockdown. There are still many issues to deal with, but we are slowly getting back to where we were before the lockdown. I can’t thank the residents enough for doing what the municipality is paid to do.”
A resident who assisted with the clean-up and also does so on a regular basis when going for a walk, Strelza Schumann, said that a lot of changes could be seen at the beachfront.
“In the vlei next to the lifesaving building where I was cleaning, there were a couple of interesting changes, such as three liquor bottles instead of the usual more than 30 or so.
“There were also far fewer plastic bags and more brown paper ones. Sadly, we still collected styrofoam takeaway containers and not the biodegradable ones that are now available.
“Overall, I think that the group did a very good job,” Schumann added.
PE Express previously reported about the state of utter disrepair of facilities at the beachfront. The toilets at King’s Beach were vandalised, copper cables ripped from the walls and outside showers and the ward councillor’s office broken into more than once. Grass was unkempt after the municipality’s contract for grass-cutting had expired at the beginning of the year and the Lifesaving Club was also broken into.
At the start of September, when tourism month was launched, Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture (EDTA) executive director, Anele Qaba, promised to focus on repairing and upgrading the beachfront to its former glory in order to attract tourists and help save the tourism industry in Nelson Mandela Bay.
