All quiet on the garbage front in Knysna

KNYSNA NEWS - After growing to a massive size over many months, and raising the ire of nearby business owners, restaurateurs and residents by causing plagues of rats and flies, and giving off a stench that pervaded surrounding areas, the notorious garbage dump alongside Waterfront Drive, Knysna, is no more.

There's not a mound in sight at the Waste Transfer Station, thanks to the Greater Knysna Business Chamber, in part, facilitating the removal of the dump through a member of its waste and energy subcommittee, Dirk Beukes.

"I got involved in about February this year, working to clear the dump. It was liaising with municipal staff at the dump, and as well as waste management staff at the municipality, and then also liaising with Knysna Municipality and the business chamber, with the provincial government," Beukes said.

'Hold-ups'
"My involvement at the end of the day was pulling all the people (together), identifying what the problem was, trying to ... resolve the problem.

"And there were processes in the municipality that had to be followed, and where there were hold-ups, primarily the delays were always finance-related.

"The compacting system at the Waste Transfer Station was out of order from early February. The system was repaired in the third week of April, but was not fully functional."

He was later informed that a hydraulic cylinder, critical to the functioning of the system, needed repairs, and "at that point I was asked as a member of the business chamber whether we could finance the repairs".

"Then the business chamber immediately agreed to that and the cylinder was repaired and installed."

Beukes said the first testing of the compacting system following the installation of the repaired cylinder was undertaken towards the end of May, and in early June the hooklift (truck that loads and transports containers of compacted waste) and its trailer were repaired and certified fit for use.

Largest size
The dump had reached its largest size at around 27 to 28 May, and "it was on Saturday 15 June that it was cleared for the first time".

The repairs enabled Knysna Municipality to transport the waste in its closed-top containers to PetroSA near Mossel Bay.

Beukes said the compacting and removal process was "working but we are still running at a risk every day - that if something goes wrong with the compacting system or the hooklift, and we do not do our two scheduled trips per day, we will start falling behind".

The focus at present was on liaising with municipal staff and attempting to make the entire process less risk-prone.

The garbage dump reached its largest size at around 27 to 28 May this year.