The City of Cape Town has allocated R235 million for the replacement of vehicles to prevent service disruptions that come with equipment breakdowns. With an effort aimed at minimising the potential for waste collection delays.
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The Urban Waste Management Directorate is working hard to address issues that have caused delays in waste collection in the past recent years.
According to the City, thus far, 24 new compactors have been ordered at a value of R105 million. Furthermore, 15 drum replacements are planned, where a new compactor unit is fitted to an existing chassis to save costs and keep tariffs as low as possible.
Apart from the planned vehicle acquisitions, another R45 million has been allocated to replace earthmoving equipment that is used at landfills, refuse transfer stations and dumping hotspots.
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Smooth operations at landfills also assist in preventing delays in waste collection and cleaning illegal dump sites. The City stated that various further orders will be placed in the coming weeks and months after engagements with suppliers on stock availability.
Furthermore, the City explained that they need to ensure that suppliers can deliver on planned orders before the end of the current financial year to avoid possible budget underspend. Therefore, the City cannot legally pay for goods before they are delivered.
The Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, Grant Twigg said: “We hope to reassure residents that the fleet of refuse collection vehicles is being carefully managed to minimise delays associated with breakdowns. We are also working closely with service providers to expedite repairs as much as possible, considering the new and more rigorous approvals process for this work.”
Twigg concluded by saying that making use of the full budget each year indicates that the City is serious about preventing service disruptions that come with equipment breakdowns.
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