An environmental hazard with an unbearable stench just waiting to explode.
This is how a manager of one of the companies in Eveready Road in the vicinity of Sidwell and New Brighton, described the nightmare of dealing with continuous illegal dumping of waste in very close proximity to their premises.
Manager of The Container Depot, Jonathan de Lange, said that people and possibly companies, too, have been dumping waste in Eveready Road for months now and it is starting to affect their business.
“Although everything is clean and hygienic inside our premises, we don’t even want to bring our clients here anymore because of the waste.
“We are situated behind PPC [Ltd] and with the Gqeberha wind, all that rubbish being dumped in Eveready Road, gets blown to us. It is very unhygienic and there is a terrible stench,” he said.
“It smells as if dead animals have been dumped there and the whole situation is just not pleasant, especially since it looks bad too.
“Now there are tyres being dumped and if one looks at the rubbish being dumped, you start to wonder if it is not waste removal companies that dump it,” he added.
De Lange acknowledged that the municipality had been at the site to clean up about two or three times in the last few months but said that they hadn’t cleaned up the whole street.
“Whenever the site is cleared, people just come and dump again and again.
“Nothing has improved and we have to do something about it,” he said.
“We are really facing major problems with this illegal dumping right around us.
“Apart from it being an eco disaster, all the different waste poses a huge health risk. I have tried to follow the route via the municipality and ward councillor. She said that she has the same problem in the greater area of New Brighton but does not get any positive support from the Waste Department at the municipality.
According to Ward Councillor, Dolly Buti, she has spoken to the waste department at the municipality.
“They informed me that they have received the complaint regarding the waste but they are still waiting for the new truck to go and clean up the site,” Buti explained.
“They have already hired the truck but are still waiting for it,” she added.
MMC for Public Health in Nelson Mandela Bay, Lance Grootboom, said that he would have to visit the site himself.
“I will then put together a team to clean up and monitor the situation,” Grootboom said.
