BuaNews (Tshwane)
Gabi Khumalo
23 July 2008
Durban — The eThekwini Municipality is conducting an awareness campaign aimed at educating communities in informal settlements on proper waste management to help curb the rat infestation problem.
This follows a report about an infant who was allegedly bitten by a rat at Kennedy Road informal settlement in Springfiled on Monday.
Municipal Head of Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries, Thembinkosi Ngcobo said the municipality had ongoing awareness programmes in place to curb the rat problem in informal settlements.
Speaking to BuaNews on Wednesday, Municipality's Head of Communicable Disease, Dr Ayo Olowolagba said the informal settlement was notorious for such incidents due to illegal dumping.
He said the department had been working in collaboration with other municipal departments including solid waste and community committee where ablution blocks and plastic bags have been provided for the community.
"It's not an ideal situation, rats are the symbol of poor environmental hygiene and the municipality is working with the community to promote health and collect unhygienic waste," Dr Olowolagba said.
In minimising the rat infestation, Mr Olowolagba told BuaNews that the department was running a campaign in the surrounding area giving out rat poison for example, for residents to use at informal settlements including Kennedy Road.
He added that municipal representatives visited the infant's family on Tuesday to see how they could assist.
The infant has been discharged from the hospital and is in a satisfactory condition.
Meanwhile, another infant from the same area died early this year after being bitten by rats in the head.
Baby Nkosi Cwaka lived with his parents at the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban.
The waste management campaign has also provided necessary resources for sustainability among other things.
Durban Solid Waste Public Relations Officer, Neeri Govender said that about 2 000 refuse bags are provided to the informal settlements and a collection service takes place every Thursday.
However, she noted that most people don't use the bags.
"Out of the distribution approximately only 500 bags are collected, which is an indication that not everyone in the area utilises the bags," said Ms Govender.
On Monday, the municipality conducted a special clean up, clearing about 15 tons of waste following the recent fire which ravaged the area.
Municipal Housing Head Cogi Parther said that the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement has approximately 2 600 families occupying the site.
He said that initially the settlement was substantially smaller and the municipality undertook to move the families to a suitable formal housing development.
"Some people welcomed the move while others refused, the option of undertaking a development on a small portion of the site is being investigated by the council," he said.
However, Mr Parther said that the majority of the occupants would be required to relocate to an alternative housing project and the municipality is currently in consultation with the local community structures.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
