Regional waste management facility site handed over

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) on Tuesday 13 June held its official site handover meeting with Tefla Group (Pty) Ltd for the regional waste management facility.

Before the start of site establishment and construction of the facility, a construction work permit had to be obtained from the Department of Employment and Labour, according to GRDM municipal manager Monde Stratu.

The Department of Employment and Labour fast-tracked the application process, which typically takes 30 days, after they received the application on 26 May and provided the approval on 8 June.

Currently, Bitou, Knysna, George and Mossel Bay transport waste to the PetroSA landfill in Mossel Bay.

PetroSA previously granted an extension of the current waste disposal contracts with the different municipalities for an additional 12 months, which will end on 29 February 2024, when the site is expected to reach full capacity.

By that time, an operational waste cell must be available at the newly constructed regional waste management facility for domestic waste disposal.

During the site handover Stratu said it was a huge milestone. "We look forward to seeing Tefla Group carry this forward. Finally handing over the site is something I never thought would happen in my time at GRDM."

Stratu thanked the Community Services Department and other roleplayers who steered the project to this point, and he wished the contractors and project managers good luck in bringing the project to completion on time.

"The regional waste management facility management project is a crucial initiative aimed at improving waste management practices within the region. Site establishment will now proceed for the next three weeks, which will be followed by the start of construction," said Stratu.

Taking into account local weather patterns and the need to import most materials from Germany, the completion of phase 1 is expected in February 2024 project timeline is as follows: