Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 6: Down at <strong>the</strong> dumpsplunder equipment does not seem to have occurred to ei<strong>the</strong>r officials or auditors.Instead, <strong>the</strong> term ‘picker’ is used indiscriminately.This is not to say that <strong>the</strong> presence of many pickers on <strong>the</strong> site does not poseproblems for good management. The pickers <strong>the</strong>mselves are most at risk. They haveno protective clothing and, at a number of sites, <strong>the</strong>y told of people being killed inaccidents. The site auditors also report seeing pickers lighting fires – a practice which isobviously dangerous particularly on a site where <strong>the</strong> management of LFG is less thanexemplary.Over <strong>the</strong> last year, a number of <strong>the</strong> most serious issues raised by <strong>the</strong> auditors have beenremedied according to both Jogiat and landfill manager Cyril Naidoo. The leachateand gas systems have been restored, a new compactor bought and adequate covermaterial supplied. At <strong>the</strong> same time, management is caught in a fortress mentality.The fence remains full of holes but security staff numbers have been beefed up as <strong>the</strong>frontline against pickers. Jogiat comments that <strong>the</strong>re has been no attempt to workwith <strong>the</strong> pickers.Security aside, it seems that <strong>the</strong> necessary investments were made at <strong>the</strong> instigation ofMgungundlovu who provided half <strong>the</strong> capital funding. It is less certain that Msunduziitself recognised, or cared, that <strong>the</strong> landfill was in crisis. Participants in <strong>the</strong> LandfillMonitoring Committee say that it remains a low priority for council and this isreflected in <strong>the</strong> constant postponement of meetings.Privatised projects seem to have attracted more attention. With unusual efficiency,tenders have been awarded to build and operate a CDM gas-to-energy project anda recycling centre at <strong>the</strong> landfill gate. Streamlined EIAs have been carried out withparticipation reduced to a single public meeting for each project. By all accounts, <strong>the</strong>meetings were publicised only in a neighbouring white suburb. There was no meetingin Sobantu, municipal workers are in <strong>the</strong> dark about <strong>the</strong> contracts and consulting <strong>the</strong>dump pickers was never on <strong>the</strong> agenda. These projects are, in Naidoo’s view, proof that<strong>the</strong> City is “passionate about waste”. It seems more likely that <strong>the</strong>se projects are seento hold opportunity. Naidoo hopes <strong>the</strong> recycling centre will employ some of <strong>the</strong> dumppickers but says he will have no influence on <strong>the</strong> decision of <strong>the</strong> company.<strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong> - groundWork - 155 -