Durban — Several eThekwini Municipality units have partnered with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to clean up the railway lines.
Last week, the eThekwini Municipality said that several units from the City had partnered with Prasa for a railway clean-up.
The municipality said that the units include iTRUMP Area-Based Management, the Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit, and the metro police.
“Working together, teams have removed mounds of waste that were illegally dumped by residents and businesses. The Prasa railway clean-up is ongoing,” the municipality said.
“The City urges businesses and residents to play their part to keep eThekwini clean. They can do this by following proper waste management practices, which includes taking out their refuse on scheduled collection days and avoiding illegal dumping.”
Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Zama Nomnganga said that for the past few weeks, the relationship between the two entities has resulted in the removal of litter on the railway lines and informal traders and vagrants encroaching on the railway lines.
Nomnganga said that they had been removing informal traders on the street near the railway lines, and vagrants at Dalbridge and Berea.
“Last week we started removing rubble along the railway lines while last month we started with the removal of illegal traders that were closer to the tracks,” Nomnganga said.
“This illegal dumping at Dalbridge is not a good thing because it results in trains derailing or trains having to stop to remove obstructions, which leads to travel delays.”
Nomnganga said that they had noted that the litter on the railway lines came from factories.
“The police and Prasa Protection Services have initiated an investigation into who is dumping on the railway lines. It is not ordinary litter, it is pieces of cloth,” Nomnganga said.
“We want to ensure that these people are brought to book and face six months in jail and a R50 000 fine because they are sabotaging a state asset.”
Nomnganga urged the public to avoid illegal dumping and encroachment on railway lines.
He added that Prasa was hard at work repairing and restoring infrastructure that was damaged during the floods. He said that Prasa was also fixing stations along the North Coast.
Nomnganga said that this had resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs in communities, and small businesses had also been given opportunities.
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Daily News