GEORGE NEWS - The NSRI section of Wilderness beach will not be proudly displaying a Blue Flag this year.  

Although the beach ticked all the right boxes during an inspection done by a Blue Flag inspector on behalf of the Wildlife and Environmental Society of SA (WESSA), an Eden District Municipality (EDM) official failed to submit the official application. 

When asked to give the reason for this, Eden District Municipality council and management said they regret what has happened.

Municipal Manager Monde Stratu added, “We are a proud institution, and as a municipality, over the years, we have ensured that the beach gets the necessary accreditation as a Blue Flag beach."

We acknowledge that this year, due to either deliberate or negligent conduct by one or more officials, we have lost the beach’s Blue Flag status and to this end, an investigation will be underway to ensure corrective measures are taken, to prevent that the incident will repeat itself again. 

We ensure the public that the Wilderness beach will remain a prestigious and world class beach. We therefore want to encourage visitors/users to continue to use our beach. 

Together with our partners, we will ensure that the visitors/users of our beach will continue to experience the very same standards and that effective services relating to a Blue Flag beach will continue to be rendered, as was done in the past years. 

Also, the Municipality will ensure that the 2018 Blue Flag application is submitted in time.

“On behalf of the council and management of Eden District Municipality, please accept my apology for any inconvenience caused by this incident. The current situation will not repeat itself again.”

Read related articles:
• Wilderness deprived of Blue Flag
• Blue Flag loss: Eden and George under fire

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