NEWSLETTER – MARCH 2010

WE ARE DROWNING IN RUBBISH!

Johannesburg is running out of landfills in which to dispose of our rubbish. According to City officials, in a few years time we won’t have anywhere left

to bury our refuse, while the city continues to grow and the amount of refuse we generate continues to increase day by day.

A partial answer is to recycle the large percentage of refuse which can be recycled, and thereby reduce the amount of non-bio-degradable waste which needs to go into the landfills.

In Killarney-Riviera we now have a project running with an established organisation called Dasa Services (Pty) Ltd. They already provide a collection service to thirteen residential buildings and to the Killarney Mall.

You can join this project by phoning Karel at 083 543 4596.

Recycling your refuse not only makes a contribution to the environment, but it will also help us to get rid of vagrants. We have a resident population of vagrants at the corner of 4th Avenue and 7th Street, who vandalise public property as well as create safety and hygiene concerns.

They are attracted to our suburb because they can scavenge recyclable refuse out of our many dust-bins, which they then sell for a few rands to recycling contractors. We can thus make our suburb a bit less attractive to vagrants by sorting our refuse ourselves, and having a legal recycling contractor collect those items that have value.

Security Matters!

Our biggest security concerns are car theft, theft out of parked cars, and “smash & grab” at traffic lights. Please don’t park in the street if possible, especially in the evenings, and never leave valuables in plain sight. Please note also that the Riviera Road off-ramp, and the corner of Houghton Drive and Newton Road, are Hotspots for hijacking and “smash & grab”.

Other suburbs in the area have created “street patrols” of volunteers, similar to the old Neighbourhood Watch initiatives. However this would not be practical in Killarney-Riviera, as the patrols can’t be everywhere all the time and the criminals strike when the patrols are not around.

The most effective crime-prevention technique is “Eyes on the Street”.

This involves every citizen paying attention to what is going on at all times, and reporting suspicious activities quickly enough to allow a response.

There is an SAPS vehicle in our area at all times – if you notice anything suspicious please call or SMS Inspector Gert Bester on 072 804 0808 during office hours (after hours, please call 10111).

Please try to get a photo of any “suspicious” person or car – including if at all possible the licence plate number.

Communication Mailing List

In order to share information quickly across the suburb, we have established a mailing list of contact persons in the various buildings.

We currently have at least one contact person in about half of the buildings, but that leaves about 30 buildings which are not “in the loop” at all. If you would like to be “in the loop” and receive email notifications of events and issues, please contact me at wdford@global.co.za to be added to the mailing list.

Please also send me the email addresses of your trustees.

The SAPS Emergency Number is 10111 

JMPD Fraud Line  –  0800 203 712
Joburg Anti-Corruption Unit  –  0800 002 587
Corruption Hotline  –  0800 600 933

Report unfair conduct by police  –  011 220 1500 / www.icd.gov.za