About 200 residents from various communities on Saturday protested at a Pikitup information day against the company’s proposed landfill site between Dainfern and Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg.
Johannesburg’s waste-management company, Pikitup, held the open day in Fourways, during which three consultants responsible for studies on the site’s impact were to due give talks.
”In essence [it was held] to legitimate a public participation process which in the last two years hasn’t taken place,” trustee of the Kopanelo Community Association Sean Heathcote said.
The association represents northern suburbs communities, including residents from Diepsloot, Zeevenfontein and Fourways.
Heathcote said Pikitup has failed to follow procedures set out in the National Environmental Management Act, and has not invited public participation.
”There’s been no real public participation process. They haven’t spoken to anyone in the communities, there’s been no real public participation process. It’s been almost a farce,” Heathcote said.
The proposed site, 800m from the Diepsloot informal settlement and 1,5km from Dainfern, is stifling any further development, he said.
”The site was first proposed back in 1987 when Diepsloot was nothing more than a crossroads. Back then, it possibly could have been a dumping site, but there’s been so much development taking place over the last 20 years.”
Parties opposed to the dumping site have until August 23 to lodge their objections to the site’s feasibility report.
The document can be viewed at the Dainfern Homeowners’ Association offices, the People’s Centre in Midrand and the Diepsloot Youth Centre, among others.
Objections and comments can be submitted to the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and environmental affairs, which then has 90 days to decide whether to go ahead and establish the site.
Kopanelo said in a statement on Friday that there is an existing, fully approved landfill site at Mooiplaats, less than 8km from Diepsloot, where Pikitup could comfortably dispose of waste for up to 80 years.
Pikitup spokesperson Marius de Villiers said the company has taken the concerns of affected communities into consideration.
”In May 2002, as part of the site selection process, a public participation process was embarked on. In May 2004, a second process started [and] is still under way,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
Selection of the site was undertaken according to the department of agriculture, conservation and environmental affairs’ impact-assessment guidelines.
It also met the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s minimum requirements for waste disposal by a landfill site, De Villiers said.
Nine possible sites were identified from a satellite photo taken in June 2000.
These were then screened according to features including size and capacity, existing fauna, access to roads, proximity to residential areas and current zoning and land use.
”The feedback received during the period of consultation with the communities will be taken into account in determining the way forward for the project,” De Villiers said.
De Villiers said talks on Saturday by three consultants were disrupted when Diepsloot residents began singing and dancing and shouted the speakers down. — Sapa