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The Democratic Alliance (DA) is giving Kamiesberg municipality two weeks to address serious waste management failures, including the dumping of raw sewage at a landfill site at Hondeklip Bay, before taking firmer action against them.

This comes after non-compliance to environmental and waste management regulations were recently exposed during an oversight inspection to landfill sites by myself and constituency head of Kamiesberg, Veronica van Dyk.

Most shocking of all was the discovery that raw sewage, sucked from septic tanks by the Kamiesberg municipality, is being dumped by the local authority at a formerly utilised landfill site in Hondeklip Bay. This poses a serious health risk to the surrounding community.

In addition, there appears to be no enforcement of waste management regulations by the municipality, as the entire town has become an illegal dumping site, with building refuse and household waste disposed of at makeshift rubbish heaps that have sprung up in and around town and on the way to the unregulated landfill site.

In Koingnaas, the situation is no better. There are a number of dump sites which are not fenced in. At one site, a Digger Loader, with only 9000 km on the clock, has been abandoned and left to the harsh effects of the elements. One tyre is flat, the windows and one door have been removed, most likely stolen and sold. In the meantime, waste cannot be compacted and properly stored in the rubbish pits. As a result, loose refuse blows around, further polluting the environment.

If the municipality fails to take adequate action within the next fourteen days, we will not hesitate to lay criminal charges in respect of them violating the National Environment Management: Waste Act.

In the meantime, we have also reported the matter to the Namakwa district health services unit, to assess the health risks being posed by the illegal dumping.

Residents of Kamiesberg deserve to be able to live in a clean and safe environment, free from preventable health risks.

Issued by Namaqua District Municipality representativ, Cllr Esmé Hough