COUNCILLORS have called for an urgent audit on the state and capacity of the City of uMhlathuze’ s refuse removal fleet.
This followed a report on the municipality’s current fleet of 21 refuse trucks which surfaced at the uMhlathuze Executive Committee meeting in Richards Bay last week.
Councillors expressed concern about the quality of refuse vehicles purchased by the City after the report showed the fleet was prone to breakdowns on a daily basis, including the 10 refuse trucks purchased in 2011/12.
‘We need to go for quality otherwise we will still experience problems with our trucks. We have some trucks from 1998 on the road while later models, purchased two years ago, are experiencing breakdowns,’ said Cllr Dumisani Nxumalo.
According to the report, the current fleet was inadequate and could not provide an optimum service to communities within the City. The existing fleet was meant to service Ngwelezane, eSikhaleni, eNseleni, Empangeni, Richards Bay, Vulindlela suburbs and business areas.
‘Planned developments that have taken place in the last few years have further increased the fleet demand,’ said the report.
This included Dumisani Makhaye Village, residential development around Richards Bay Civic Centre that was not considered before 2005 and new business areas in the Empangeni CBD.
Breakdowns
‘At any given time, about four or more trucks are out of service. Whenever there is a breakdown, staff have to wait for the next available truck to finish routes before they tackle their own routes. This results, at times, in refuse trucks being parked overnight without being emptied of refuse as the uThungulu Landfill site closes at 5.30pm. These trucks are then emptied the following morning,’ the report said.
The current fleet of 21 refuse removal trucks services about 46 326 houses directly and about 18 000 indirectly through the usage of skip services and the clearing of illegal dumping.
It means each refuse truck services about 571.20 houses per day over a period of five days. According to the 2011 census, about 27 401 houses were still not serviced within the City.
To deal with the current backlog, the waste management section has requested 12 additional refuse trucks and a further two for envisaged development and the incorporation of Ntambanana municipality wards in 2016.
Council last week agreed to consider in its budget the purchase of four refuse trucks for 2014//15 financial year and another three refuse trucks for 2015/16 financial year.
