17 Nov 2020

Kanye Administrative Authority (KAA) Sub-council chairperson, Mr Simon Ramaphoi, has lamented the underutilisation of the Kanye landfill as well as illegal waste disposal.

Addressing the Sub-council session on Monday, Mr Ramaphoi noted that the monthly average disposal rate at the landfill stood at 163.17 tonnes against the 617.5 tonnes capacity.

He also said that illegal dumping of waste along the roadside and on the outskirts of the villages within KAA jurisdiction remained a concern.

Consequently, Councilor Ramaphoi called on residents to ensure proper disposal of waste to ensure clean surroundings.

“I still find in it imperative to encourage each one of us to take responsibility in keeping our environment safe and clean.

I also encourage you honorable councilors to help the department of Environmental Health by sensitising people in your respective wards to desist from illegal dumping of waste,” he said.

Furthermore, the chairperson noted that even though waste management within KAA had improved since the engagement of 18 waste collection contractors in the 2019/20 financial year, frequent breakdown of the council’s refuse compactors remained a challenge.

This, he said resulted in inconsistent collection of waste in areas that were serviced by council.

He, however apprised fellow councilors that the landfill compactor which had been down for some time had since been serviced and started operating last month.           

“Our landfill compactor has been down for some time, meaning that compaction of waste was not done.

However, on October 21 the machine was temporarily serviced and started operation. Covering of waste was successfully done and fencing of the landfill holding cell was completed in September 2020,” he said.

Mr Ramphoi also applauded the collaboration between the Department of Environmental Health and the District Health Management Team (DHMT) to collect clinical waste from clinics and home-based care patients’ homes.

This collaboration, he noted, had helped alleviate non-collection complaints in the last two months.

On sanitation services, the sub-council chairperson noted that the ongoing major infrastructure development project in Kanye intended to reduce the use of septic tanks and pit latrines was 52.4 per  cent complete, a slight delay from the planned 52.6 per cent.

He said that the contractor, Estate Construction, would be given the opportunity to address the current sub-council session on the progress of the project and challenges thereof. Ends