Johan van Zyl, George:
Dear George Municipality,
I have a question for you - why has our beautiful city been so dirty during the last few weeks? It is almost as if you closed down during the busiest time of the year when our city was bursting with holiday makers and visitors, which placed an extra load on rubbish disposal. Here are some examples I have observed:
• Many rubbish bins in public places have been filled to overflowing with surplus rubbish ending up on the pavement for the wind to distribute. See the photograph which was taken on Saturday 4 January 2020.
• At Go George bus stops many of the blue plastic bins were seen with the bottom hanging open and rubbish on the ground.
• The area between Garden Route Mall and Eden Meander Mall, where the Go George container offices are located, has been strewn with rubbish since mid-December. I engaged with the management of Garden Route Mall and Go George about this and both parties informed me that it is a municipal responsibility to keep the area clean. The public rubbish bin at the Go George bus stop has been overflowing for a while and is a total disgrace.
• Other areas such as the open space between Blue Mountain Village and Protea Park has become a public dumping place for rubbish.
Come on George Municipality - you can do better than this and our city certainly deserves its reputation of being clean and well-run!
Director Community Services Walter Hendricks replies:
The Cleansing Department cleans rubbish bins at least once a day, and a second time when resources allow during peak holiday periods. However, this time of year the volumes are extremely high and in some places the bins fill up quicker than the municipality can clean them.
This is expected to normalise shortly.
In regards to properties near Go George containers and between Protea Park and Blue Mountain, the municipality is aware of these issues, which will be addressed shortly.
