City of Johannesburg’s waste management company, Pikitup, has announced that its Clean Up Day held on 06 June was an overwhelming success with over 20000 residents pitching in to enhance the cleanliness of the City of Joburg ahead of the Confederations Cup. A staggering 255 tons of waste was collected and disposed of on the day with celebrities, churches, corporate organisations and social clubs all getting involved in the initiative. Approximately 64 000 refuse bags were used in the process.
”Pikitup would like to thank the residents of Johannesburg for pitching in,” said Zami Nkosi, MD of Pikitup. “The initiative marks the beginning of a partnership between Pikitup and Joburg’s residents and businesses in keeping Johannesburg as clean as it can be. This is a very important first step in realizing our long term objective, which is to position Johannesburg as one of the world’s cleanest cities.”
Littering and illegal dumping costs the City over half a billion per annum and it is also these practices which restricts Pikitup’s ability to carry out its mandate in full, which is essentially to collect refuse placed in the appropriate litter receptacles e.g. household wheelie bins and industrial skips. “There are many who believe that littering and illegal dumping creates jobs, but the opposite is true”, added Nkosi. “These practices are not only counterproductive to our development as a city, but they are in fact illegal practices punishable by law.” A total of 47 JMPD officers have been recently assigned to focus exclusively on enforcing littering and illegal dumping by-laws.
11/06/2009
For any further information please contact:
Pansy Jali
Acting Communications Manager
Tel: (011) 712 — 5200
Cell: 079 526 9299
E-mail: pansyjali@pikitup.co.za
