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Tuesday 29 March 2011
ON THE EDGE: Residents say tyres spill over into the neighbouring street.
SOLE PROVIDER: An employee at the recycling fac tory illustrates how the tyres are being recycled at the premises. Photos: Tauriq Hassen
Tel: 021 713 9440 Fax: 021 713 9481
TYRE LAND: Hundreds of used tyres are stored and recycled at the premises.
Residents’ concerns mount as tyres pile up TAURIQ HASSEN
R
ESIDENTS of Observatory are concerned that tyres stacked up at a local business are a fire hazard and can cause accidents if they spill over into the street. The business, on the corner of Lower Main and Nelson roads, is a recycling plant converting old tyres into soles for shoes and other products. Residents complained that members of the public are randomly “dumping” their unwanted tyres over the business’ fence. People’s Post visited the site on Thursday 17 March and saw hundreds of used tyres stacked along the fence. The reporter asked employees to shed light on operations. An employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was fully aware of the tyres “being thrown over the fence” by the company’s driver, who has permission to do so. The driver has however been asked to stop this practice because “a bad impression” was being created. “People are thinking dumping is taking place here, but this is not true,” says the employee, who acknowledges that “the site does
look bad, with all the tyres all over the show”. Dorothy Lewis, a resident living close to the business, says she regularly witnesses the tyres being thrown over the fence. “They just pull up and start throwing tyres over the fence. This is not a dumping site for tyres, but they just throw the tyres over and then drive off,” says Lewis. She said this was a “major fire hazard” as any ignition could send the building up in flames and cause damage not only to the building, but to surrounding properties as well. “This is what I have to live with and something must be done before anything drastic happens,” says Lewis. Another resident, Fiona Andrews, says “thousands of tyres” are being thrown over the fence. “It’s becoming so full that the tyres are now spilling over into the street, which causes even more concerns to our neighbourhood,” says Andrews. She said many of the tyres land in the middle of the road, forcing motorists to swerve around them. “This could result in accidents, says Andrews. The employee of the business said: “We are fully aware of the community’s concerns and
will be sorting the site. We will be removing the tyres, taking it away from the fencing.” While People’s Post was at the site, workers were re-arranging the hundreds of tyres. Trevor Hughes, chairman for the Observatory Civic Association, said “no complaints were received by the association”. He however, confirmed that the association would follow up on the matter and have the building checked out before lodging an official complaint with council and the local ward councillor. He added that the solution would be to have the proper City departments inspect the building to determine whether there is a real concern about fires. “We would also be a bit concerned if indeed the tyres are stacking up and posing all these concerns, but it’s really a matter that needs to be followed up and will be,” Hughes confirmed. He encouraged residents with similar concerns about the building to use the City of Cape Town’s C3 complaints system. People can log their complaints into a computer system and be issued a unique reference number that will enable the complainant to track progress. “For now, we will lodge a C3 complaint from the association’s side, but if there are more than three concerns of a similar na-
STICKY SUBJECT: The tyres are ground down and the mixture used in the tar found in roads. ture, it should be attended to almost immediately,” Hughes added. If you would like to lodge any complaint using the C3 system, call 086 010 3089 or email contactUS@capetown.gov.za or SMS 31373, with no more than 160 characters. People’s Post attempted to contact ward councillor Cedric Thomas for comment, but he could not be reached at the time of going to print.
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