Floors2Go
ATHLONE
Quality European Laminated Flooring available from
R79
95
/m2
Laminate Flooring
from
R10999/m
22
Porcelain Tiles
Terms & Conditions apply
INCL VAT
now from
R2995/sheet Mosaics
EXCL VAT
DEBIT AND CREDIT CARD FACILITIES AVAILABLE
11 Carrick Crescent
Athlone Industria-Opp Easy Pack
Tel (021) 633 6156 / Fax (021) 633 8603 X1TR2JEX-QK250717
FCJ Excellence Awards: Winner Best Front Pages; Runnerup Best Newspaper TUESDAY 25 July 2017 | Tel: 021 910 6500 | Email: post@peoplespost.co.za | Website: www.peoplespost.co.za
@ThePeoplesPost
People’s Post
ATHLONE STATION
Stench more than just a foul smell
EARL HAUPT @EarlHaupt
A
foul smell pierces the air as passengers walk past the abandoned building at the end of Aden Avenue at Athlone train station. The whiff itself already speaks of what awaits inside what is now the remnants of a ticketing office. According to residents and local business owners, the Prasa-owned building has been vandalised by vagrants and gangsters. “Over time now residents and businesses have raised the issue about the vacant buildings at Athlone station that are used by crim-
inals. It has been coming on for months now,” says Edward Doe, deputy chairperson of Athlone’s community policing forum. “We have raised it at our business meetings with Prasa and they seem not to want to deal with it. That was three months ago and up until today they have done nothing.” Prasa spokesperson Riana Scott says the matter has been raised with urgency at monthly meetings with the City of Cape Town to emphasise the need for a “holistic approach to vagrancy”. “Finding a sustainable and cross-functional solution to an entrenched socioeconomic dilemma is critical. Until such time
as adequate facilities and viable alternatives are available to Cape Town’s [homeless], their presence in ‘inappropriate’ areas will unfortunately remain,” says Scott. Priscilla Links, who has been living nearby for more than 60 years, says she hears people “chopping up the building” at night. “People walk past and they do nothing. The security at the station does not do anything. If I can hear them in the house, they can surely hear what is going on over here. “They built this from our tax money we worked so hard for. It just stands here and they never ever used it, so what did they build it for?” says Links.
Train passengers who need to buy tickets or use the toilet at Athlone station have to use the ticket office stationed on the Garlandale side. PHOTO: EARL HAUPT Athlone police spokesperson Sergeant Zita Norman says there has not been an increase in crime in the area because the police have not received an increase in reports. “The police have liaised with Prasa with regard to the safety risks which the building has for commuters and the community. Athlone police have increased their foot patrols and visible crime prevention patrols at various times of the morning, afternoon and in the evening,” says Norman. V Continued on page 4.