Letter written to the Municipality about the grave situation of pollution of the Berg River catchment system has to written to all the role players - again!
16 November 2006
Before............................................After
And another couple of after's..............
Response received 22 November 2006 from the Municipal Manager
I refer to the above and our brief meeting the 20th November 2006. Thank you once again for finding time and going with us to the site. Our Operational Director, respectfully disagrees with the assumption that the river has been polluted with raw sewage spills from our sewerage plant. Our initial assessment is that the present state of the river is the result of neglect over the years to clean up the river(the density of the reeds is proof of this) We confirm that an official from dwaf took samples from the treated sewerage water for testing WHICH WE INTEND forwarding to you upon receipt of same. It is, however, a given that the river needs to be cleaned up. We intend dealing with the problem in the following manner:
1 Appointing a specialist to assist us.
2 Requesting council to make funds available to appoint temporary workers to remove the reeds and other organic material that pollutes the river.
We shall revert to you in due course in terms of progress made.
Dear David,
My email below of 11 November refers.(for which the only response I received was from you - see below - but no action?).
Herewith some 'before and after' photos, which indicate to what extent the river purity and encroachment by vegetation has been allowed pollute the Park and the Klip River over a 5 year period. This 'cesspit' has paying guests staying there, including children who are being exposed to very probable health risks.
The water from the Klip River flows into the Berg River catchment system via the Kleinberg River and supplies water to the Voelvlei Dam. This poses a severe risk to the water uses in areas as far as Cape Town and the West Coast areas.
How can the Municipality dare to have visitors to Tulbagh exposed to this health hazard? This is scandalous and gross neglect of a public facility. I believe that the Klip River Park should be shut down immediately to protect the visitors and the public using the facility until the sewerage works are upgraded to cope with the purification process.
I suggest that the matter of the fact that the Tulbagh sewerage purification plant is clearly over capacity and has been so for some years, should have received priority funding and have been upgraded by now, since the matter raw sewerage overflowing into the river system was brought to the attention of the Municipality and other relevant authorities nearly a year ago.
This matter is URGENT and I think common decency and common concern for the public and the water users in general, demands that this be treated as such.
I have copied this mail to various role players in the hope that some, at last, may treat this matter with the urgency it deserves.
I am also removing Klip River Park from the Accommodation section of my web site www.tulbagh.net with immediate effect as I am not prepared to be party to putting the public at risk any longer.
Sincerely,
John Veschini
Chairperson
Tulbagh Ratepayers / Inwoners Forum
13 November - mail received from David Nasson
I agree. It is unacceptable.Myself, and management will visit site to today.Will revert to you by tomorrow.
Original mail
11 November, 2006
(The Municipal Manager
Witzenberg)
Dear David,
The state of this river, the Park, the sewerage pollution, the overgrowth or the reeds, the state of the final settling dam etc., is simply unsatisfactory. Why must we as residents continuously have to complain and then be seen as negative in some quarters?
What does the municipality intend doing about this?
Kind regards,
John Veschini
Chairperson
TRIF