He was, however, dismayed last week Thursday when refuse bags were found dumped on the boardwalk that runs along the lagoon. "On many occasions these black bags are torn open and scattered along the boardwalk ending up in the lagoon."
Hoch made a fervent plea this week to Wilderness homeowners not to place their black refuse bags out the night before collection, but rather on the morning of collection (Mondays) and definitely not two to four days before collection.
The latest incident happened on Thursday. Hoch said it cost him several phone calls to SANParks from Friday 4 July, after midday, to Monday 7 July before SANParks employees reacted and picked up the trash.
"It is disgusting that the lagoon and boardwalk can be left in such a mess. We had a cold front with strong winds and rain during the weekend, and the trash was blown into the lagoon and scattered everywhere. I personally pick up trash and have even had my gardener walk with me along the boardwalk, picking up bottles, papers and all sorts of trash from the banks of the lagoon. The centre of Wilderness is looking good with all the improvements, sidewalks and new gardens. Why must Waterside Road and the rest of Wilderness look like a rubbish dump? The municipality does not even cut the long grass next to the pavement alongside Waterside Road. It gets sprayed with poison and left there."
Clean up
Upon investigating this matter, Nellie Grootendorst, the acting area manager for the Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park, said that an immediate clean up was held when the matter was brought to her attention. "SANParks rangers are often left picking up and tidying up.
This incident must have occurred yesterday morning when the rangers had not patrolled that side of the park. Upon arriving on the scene, the rangers quickly cleaned up the area as they often do. We will send you photos of this area cleaned up as it appears today," said SANParks Communications Manager Nandi Mgwadlamba on Monday.
She added that it must be remembered that the Garden Route National Park is a vast area stretching from George to Knysna.
Voilà, the boardwalk at Wilderness Lagoon has been cleaned up. This photo was forwarded by SANParks on Tuesday to show the current state of affairs.
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