Refuse collection failures are plaguing Buffalo City Metro (BCM) yet again.
Refuse trucks are believed to have broken down and the service is erratic or non-existent, said two ratepayer association leaders and a headmaster yesterday.
A fleet of 16 new refuse trucks, sweepers and TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe) machines promised by mayor Zukiswa Ncitha have not yet appeared on the streets.
Last year, she said their arrival by March depended on the supply chain management department’s “tender process”.
After a month of complaining to BCM about a mounting pile of refuse at East London High School, principal Ben Chetty said it was only after he called the Daily Dispatch that he got some action.
Yesterday a BCM refuse truck arrived for the first time this year. It collected 40 bags and emptied two wheelie bins of trash.
Chetty said the truck arrived a few hours after the Dispatch went to the school to look and sent questions to the metro’s spokesman, Keith Ngesi.
“If it was not for the Dispatch, the rubbish would still be piling up at the entrance of the school,” Chetty said, adding he had been calling BCM’s waste management department since January 19.
Gonubie and Beacon Bay are also struggling to get their trash collected.
Their ratepayers forum chairs, Andre Swart and Malcolm Symons, said refuse trucks had not followed their removal schedule for the last three weeks and were arriving late.
Swart said: “When I called waste management to inquire about why the trucks were late I was told that the problem was due to the faulty trucks that are stored at the garage. This excuse is unacceptable,” said Swart.
Symons was also told some “trucks were down” when he called to report the problem to the councillor in the area.
Late last year the metro confirmed they were facing a shortage of refuse trucks.
In December, the metro announced plans to acquire new trucks out of R51-million allocated to cleaning up the city.
Mayor Zukiswa Ncitha promised the Dispatch that eight new refuse trucks, six sweeper machines and the metro’s first two TLBs, as well as wheelie bins and skips, would be bought.
Ncita said the metro was putting pressure on the procurement department saying the planning was already done.
“We want to roll out the project by March at least, but it could depend on the tender processes,” Ncitha said at the time. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
City‘s waste unit stalls under load
Refuse trucks are believed to have broken down and the service is erratic or non-existent, said two ratepayer association leaders and a headmaster yesterday.
A fleet of 16 new refuse trucks, sweepers and TLB (tractor-loader-backhoe) machines promised by mayor Zukiswa Ncitha have not yet appeared on the streets.
Last year, she said their arrival by March depended on the supply chain management department’s “tender process”.
After a month of complaining to BCM about a mounting pile of refuse at East London High School, principal Ben Chetty said it was only after he called the Daily Dispatch that he got some action.
Yesterday a BCM refuse truck arrived for the first time this year. It collected 40 bags and emptied two wheelie bins of trash.
Chetty said the truck arrived a few hours after the Dispatch went to the school to look and sent questions to the metro’s spokesman, Keith Ngesi.
“If it was not for the Dispatch, the rubbish would still be piling up at the entrance of the school,” Chetty said, adding he had been calling BCM’s waste management department since January 19.
Gonubie and Beacon Bay are also struggling to get their trash collected.
Their ratepayers forum chairs, Andre Swart and Malcolm Symons, said refuse trucks had not followed their removal schedule for the last three weeks and were arriving late.
Swart said: “When I called waste management to inquire about why the trucks were late I was told that the problem was due to the faulty trucks that are stored at the garage. This excuse is unacceptable,” said Swart.
Symons was also told some “trucks were down” when he called to report the problem to the councillor in the area.
Late last year the metro confirmed they were facing a shortage of refuse trucks.
In December, the metro announced plans to acquire new trucks out of R51-million allocated to cleaning up the city.
Mayor Zukiswa Ncitha promised the Dispatch that eight new refuse trucks, six sweeper machines and the metro’s first two TLBs, as well as wheelie bins and skips, would be bought.
Ncita said the metro was putting pressure on the procurement department saying the planning was already done.
“We want to roll out the project by March at least, but it could depend on the tender processes,” Ncitha said at the time. — arethal@dispatch.co.za
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