By Nangamso Mabindla
7 September 2006

RESIDENTS flocked to the Duncan Village welfare centre on Wednesday, 6 September, for the launch of Buffalo City's three-month pilot clean-up project in the township.

The project aims to clean up streets and streams and manage water quality by cleaning up the storm water system and rehabilitating the land between floodlines.

Funded by the City of Leiden in the Netherlands, the project is an initiative of the Buffalo City-Leiden twinning agreement, which is now in its tenth year.

The City's portfolio head for social services, Mankomo Pango, said Duncan Village had been identified because it was one of the city's most disaster-prone areas.

"When disasters hit our city, most shacks are washed away by the floods; one of the main reasons this occurs is because of the way we manage our waste. We tend to throw dirt everywhere and it blocks storm water drains; that is why so many people lose their homes when it floods," said Pango.

Pango said that because of these challenges, the City, Leiden and the South African Lotto Fund decided to help improve the living conditions in Duncan Village.

However, for the project to succeed, the township's residents need to work closely with the municipality and its partners. "We would like to appeal to residents not to litter. We want to keep Duncan Village clean so that we can limit the loss of life when disasters strike," said Pango.

"We want to have proper waste and storm drainage in this area; but to eliminate most of these problems we need people to work with us."

Pango pointed out that the clean up was an interim measure.

"We do have long-term strategies to implement in the area," he said. Some of these strategies included improved housing through the Duncan Village Redevelopment Initiative, the building of playparks, and the alleviation of poverty through commercial agriculture and farming.

Alderman Hans van Volszen from the Netherlands said it was a great honour for him and his team to have been part of the occasion. "The results of this three-month project should be a clean storm water system, which will be beneficial to the living conditions in Duncan Village. We hope that soon after that, we will be able to implement a sustainable waste collection system," he said.