GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality heeded the call of the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) last week to support the district municipality's Anti-Illegal Dumping Campaign.
GRDM's environmental health practitioners together with various stakeholders initiated the campaign to educate communities on the health effects of illegal dumping.
The five-day campaign ran from 13 to 17 February.
In addition to a string of communication events and activities to amplify the message of combatting illegal dumping, George Mayor Leon van Wyk released a video message to persuade the citizens of George to throw their weight behind the fight against illegal dumping.
"Our Community Services Department runs an ongoing campaign against illegal dumping where different teams clean open spaces in parts of George," said Van Wyk.
"Illegal dumping is anything you throw away in a place where it does not belong. If you throw your junk just anywhere, it will eventually become your problem in some way or another. Throwing stuff into sewerage drains, or flushing the wrong stuff down the toilet, will clog pipes and the sewerage will overflow into your neighbourhood."
Van Wyk encouraged the citizens of George to act responsibly and make use of the available resources to avoid illegal dumping. "Refuse is picked up in your neighbourhood once a week. Please put your waste inside refuse bags and keep them at your house until collection day."
Meanwhile, the George Municipality's Communication and Intergovernmental Relations division ran an awareness campaign using the municipality's communication platforms, which reach thou-sands of subscribers and followers.
Messaging about illegal dumping was circulated on the municipality's Facebook page, Twitter, WhatsApp, App and website, as well as the local media daily during the campaign.
A radio talk was also broadcast on local radio stations to sensitise the public about the dangers of illegal dumping and the environmental repercussions if people do not stop illegal dumping.
A feature on illegal dumping was also published in George Herald.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
