Durban - Adopt a River, in partnership with Reefer Cold Storage, spearheaded a clean-up along the banks of the uMngeni River resulting in 326kg of waste being removed in a two-week operation.
Stamatis Kapsimalis, CEO and owner of Reefer Cold Storage, said that having witnessed the ongoing illegal dumping alongside the uMngeni River over the past few months, the company had decided to lead a clean-up of the river banks as a joint private-public-NPO project.
“The level of pollution so exceeded our initial expectations that the team extended the clean-up to two weeks to tackle the astounding 326kg of waste, which required 40 trips to the landfill site, and cost R190 000 in total,” Kapsimalis said.
He added that they initially contacted Janet Simpkins, from the non-profit organisation (NPO), Adopt a River, for assistance with the clean-up.
“They then brought on board other concerned stakeholders, including BMS Foods (Bluff Meat Supply), Multiquip and AlcoNCP, who assisted in the waste removal, with plans in place to restore the land and prevent further dumping.”
Kapsimalis said that illegal dumping was a massive cause for concern for everyone who relies on the river.
“The uMngeni River is the lifeblood for so many communities in the area, an important part of the delicate ecosystem, and a base for many recreational activities. We could not sit by, as local businesses and residents, and let this illegal dumping continue unabated. The extent of the littering indicates the scale of our pollution problem, but we truly believe it’s something we can address through collaborations such as this,” Kapsimalis added.
He thanked all the stakeholders who had contributed funds and spent time to clean up the river.
“When we realised that the dumping exceeded initial expectations, organisations and businesses stepped up to assist in whatever way they could. This is by no means the end of this operation, but just the start in a long-term plan to get the river back into a healthy position.”
Simpkins said that the original plan had been to clear the illegally dumped waste and alien invasives between the Connaught interchange and the footbridge along Willowfield Road between September 12 and 17.
“However, the sheer volume of waste found at the site meant that we had to extend the campaign by a week,” she said.
Simpkins added that weather and red-tape delays were some additional challenges they had to overcome, but there had been overwhelming support from all sponsors involved.
“Through a partnership with eThekwini Municipality, the clean-up teams got special access to the landfill site to offload the thousands of kilograms of waste.”
Simpkins said that this area had obviously been a favourite dumping ground for years, with much of the litter hidden by alien invasive plants.
“As we literally scratched the surface, the true extent of the dumping became evident. Tons of waste have since been removed. We still have small pockets of waste remaining, which we will manage over the next few weeks.”
Simpkins added that the next step in the clean-up campaign was to encourage the public to celebrate this cleaner space by becoming part of the ‘mass greening’ initiative.
“Through this, the public will be invited to adopt a tree or a plant specifically chosen for this area, and assist in re-greening the green belt – the veritable lungs of the city. We will advertise these details via the Adopt-a-River social media pages,” she said.