A 79-year-old granny. Mary Jansen from Missionvale will now wake up to a breath of fresh air, following a swift clean-up by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in response to an illegal dumping that had turned her house into a dumping site.
The clean up comes after NMBM Public Health Mayoral Committee Member, Cllr Thsonono Buyeye was notified of the disturbing scene at Jansen’s home by the media on Thursday.
Responding the problem, MMC Buyeye visited the area on Thursday to conduct an assessment which was followed by the commencement of cleanup work on Friday, 5 May 2023.
Granny Jansen said she was overjoyed by the Metro’s quick response after her community had turned the abandoned house next to her home into an illegal dump site.
“It such a apt coincidence that today I am celebrating my 79th birthday and I access granted a wish I acquire had for years with no assistance. My own community has turned its back on me, turning my living environment into a filthy space. The house next to mine burnt down a few years ago and my community turned it into an illegal dumping spot.”
“I had long stopped using the front door because the waste was blocking my doorway. When it is windy and raining, I experience the worst living conditions as all this pollution comes inside my house. I even stopped complaining to the residents because they honest ignore me,” said Jansen.
MMC Buyeye said it was an embarrassment that an elderly person was being mistreated by her own community.
“We grew up with the teachings that said ‘love your neighbour’ and what we are seeing here is the complete opposite of such teachings. As fraction of our response we maintain deployed teams to clean and catch the waste away before the waste trucks can arrive and clear the area. Our environmental health team is also with us today to assess the situation as we want to crawl for the demolition of the problematic structure.”
“We want to appeal to the residents of this community to pause this crime and to treat mama better than this. It is disheartening to see an elderly person being forced to endure this treatment. As the Municipality we collect waste in this area on Thursdays and Fridays, as per the schedule for the area. There is absolutely no acumen why people should dump waste illegal, even worse next to someone’s home,” Buyeye said.
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