The City plans to crack down on illegal dumping

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Litterbugs to feel strong arm of the law JOHANNESBURG litterbugs have been put on warning: if you continue with illegal activities, you will face the full force of the law. December 14, 2004 By Anish Abraham YOU'D better clean up after yourself this festive season - and use the dustbins too. If you don't, the City's Department of Environmental Health could be onto you. The department has announced it will crack down on litterbugs during the Christmas holidays. The City's Region 11 environmental health units are to step up prosecutions against individuals caught littering and creating unhealthy conditions in open spaces and on city streets. In the past year alone, it cost the City - and ultimately the ratepayer - R151-million to dispose of 73 647 tonnes of litter on the streets and a further R54-million to remove 272 962 tonnes of illegally dumped materials. Nic van Deventer, Acting Deputy Director of Environmental Health, said: "To clamp down on this activity, we are warning residents to stop their bad habits or face the consequences by paying fines ranging from R300 to R1 000." The City has set a fine of R1 000 for owners of vehicles and trailers who are found dumping, R500 for a person using a wheelbarrow or a container to dispose of rubbish illegally and R300 for general littering. Those who fail to pay their fines within the allocated time run the risk of being imprisoned for up to six months. Litter is defined as domestic waste, rubble, broken glass, tins, paper, wrecks or parts of motor vehicles, dead animals, waste water or flushing water being disposed off at an open or public space, a vacant stand or erf and in watercourses. Although environmental health officers and municipal police will conduct joint operations to keep a lookout for miscreants, residents are urged to come forward and report dumping or littering. Van Deventer justified such strong action, saying dumping and littering led to degradation of the environment, devaluation of properties, disease, increased costs and negative and harmful perceptions of Johannesburg. There have been an increasing number of complaints from the public and Council is now calling for the issuing of fines and summonses in place of the warning tickets previously used to combat the problem. For more information, and to report offenders, call the regional environmental health offices on the following numbers: Region 1 & 2 011 237 8002 Region 3 011 881 6458 Region 4 011 474 6703/4/5/6 Region 5 011 761 0217 Region 6 011 986 0169 Region 7 011 531 5604 Region 8 011 376 8522 Region 9 011 681 8051 Region 10 011 933 2422 Region 11 011 213 0019/0137 Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za