By Tendai Dhliwayo
'PROJECT 100 SPOTS', an initiative by the city of Johannesburg to deal with the problem of illegal dumping and other by-law violations, is seeing certain parts of Soweto spruced up.
A door-to-door education campaign on March 17 signalled the start of the project. In co-operation with local communities, the project aims to clean up 100 of Soweto's prominent illegal dumping sites mostly in Killarney, Meadowlands, Mzimhlophe, Noordgesig and Phomolong.
"Illegal dumping alone is a problem that affects all 11 regions of the city of Johannesburg and is particularly serious in Soweto," said the city in a statement.
Besides dealing with illegal dumping sites, the campaign will further deal with problems of vandalism, cable theft, illegal structures and trading. And Johannesburg Metro police has begun issuing notices for illegal trading, dumping as well as all illegal structures and businesses.
According to the city, council loses millions of rands yearly due to numerous by-law violations. Aside from that, illegal connection of services cost the city nearly R54 million annually.
To keep the environment cleaner and safer, City Parks has identified sites to be converted into parks, and R500 000 has been set aside for the greening process.
So far, 24 illegal dumping sites have been cleared and it is expected, according to the city, that all 100 spots would be cleared in the next four weeks.
