Central SA
Closure of Mangaung's Northern Landfill on the cards─── TSHEHLA KOTELI 10:58 Fri, 11 Nov 2022
The Northern Landfill, which has been nothing but a headache to residents in the northern parts of Bloemfontein, will be moved or refurbished – however, it is a long way to have the plan come into play.
Mangaung councillor in Ward 44, Selmé Pretorius, says what makes the landfill problematic is that it is next to a residential area and continues to be a big challenge to residents. “Something is always burning in the area. The landfill also affects the property prices negatively.”
She states this is the first time that the landfill is included in the Integrated Development Planning (IDP), which entails the closing, upgrading, and refurbishment/rehabilitation of the landfill. As much as the residents want the landfill to be closed down, Pretorius explains that they must be patient, as this is a long process because it includes having to find another spot that the landfill will be moved to and that plan should be finalised by 2025 at the latest.
ALSO READ: Dumping at Bfn's northern landfill site causes problems for residents
The breakdown of the millions that have been allocated for the IDP is;
2022/2023 – R1 800 000
2023/2024 – R8 000 000
2024/2025 – R8 000 000
2025/2026 – R4 000 000
Pretorius concludes that she is hopeful that the landfill will finally get the attention it deserves and that the voices of the residents have been heard. “I am hopeful because we finally have the landfill on the IDP and it is budgeted for, but we must always remember that there will always be challenges. However, even through the challenges, I remain confident because this is crucial to the well-being of residents.”
Earlier in the year, the Mangaung Metro Municipality started to clean up at the Northern Landfill Site near Northridge Mall, as residents living close by experienced problems accessing the road to their homes.
The then Metro’s Acting City Manager, Sello More, told OFM News the municipality will finish cleaning up the site in a few days. "We started on Thursday to clean up the Southern Landfill Site, as both the Southern and Northern Landfill sites had collapsed. More explained they will also tighten security in order to ensure people do not dump waste outside the entrances.
The road to the Northern Landfill Site became difficult to access due to heavy rainfall, which resulted in people dumping outside the main entrance and on the road.
A resident who wants to remain anonymous said, even though it is a dumping site, people must also be considerate that there are people who actually live near the site. The problem escalated up to a point when residents decided to close the main road to the entrance, in order to block access to the dumping site.
