Msunduzi Municipality hopes a 30-ton CAT 330 GC excavator will improve on waste collection and management at the City’s beleaguered landfill site.
The massive machine, which boasts the latest technology, was handed over to the municipality at the New England Road landfill site on Wednesday.
Msunduzi Mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said more vehicles will be bought to replace ageing machines on site.
He said Msunduzi is “prioritising waste management holistically” and that one of the City’s priorities was to ensure daily targets for domestic and industrial waste collection are met.
“But without having a proper place to dispose of that waste we wouldn’t be able to do anything,” Thebolla said.
Thebolla said despite buying waste compactor trucks towards the end of last year they were well aware the City still needed an excavator to manage waste at the landfill site.
“For us to meet the compliance notice that we got from the KZN Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, we needed to have these compactors and this machine. This is just one step towards that direction. We made a commitment that we are going to deliver on that promise,” Thebolla said.
He said that due to Covid-19 the municipality was unable to procure the entire fleet that it requires.
“For us to meet the requirements we need two to three compactors working on a full-time basis,” Thebolla added.
“When we were budgeting we wanted to prioritise waste management.
“We have always known that we need to meet compliance standards.”
Chairperson for the community service portfolio, Linda Madlala, said the addition of the excavator would go a long way towards resolving the challenges in the City’s waste management.
“Of course it’s not enough, but we are doing all we can to turn the corner,” Madlala said. “Recently there have been reports on malfunctioning of machines on site and this will bring much needed relief,” he added.
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Madlala said the plan was to add a front-end loader and a compactor to replace the machines currently being hired.
Landfill site manager Cyril Naidoo said the machine would help the site to comply with Environmental Affairs requirements. He added that he believed this was the start of many good things to come. “This is the key to maintaining compliance,” he said.
The 30-ton excavator will be responsible for digging, breaking hard ground as well as moving heavy objects.
