Letter: Tackle glaring problems, Mr Mayor
Dear Mr Trollip,
You and your team are to be congratulated on the work done so far in cleaning up not only the administration of our beloved city, but the city itself.
Expectations are maybe unrealistically high, but the DA is on the right track and we look forward to being a “blue” city for years to come.
However, there are glaring gaps in certain areas, and you have the staff and the law on your side to fix these issues quickly and efficiently.
The informal taxi rank at the Boardwalk is a nightmare. The taxi drivers behave with impunity and total disregard for the safety of other road users or their passengers.
You have an entire traffic department under your control, why are they not attending to the problem on the beachfront?
People have been killed by taxis on the beachfront in the past, so the question has to be asked: how many more people have to die before the traffic department steps up and sorts this mess out?
Sorry, Mr Mayor, but this is a wake-up call. You have the power to fix this, so do something about it before we have another beachfront tragedy.
The Community Street and Fifth Avenue, Walmer, area is another glaring example of the municipality looking the other way. There are thousands of unemployed people in the Walmer area.
Why can’t a dozen or so fit and energetic residents be employed on a casual basis to clean up the filth? I was shocked by what I saw.
The plastic bags stuck on fences and the rubbish scattered all over the area adds to the sense of desolation and despair felt by many residents. They need to feel a sense of pride – not contempt – for the surrounds of the township.
In broad daylight, I saw a group of about six men connecting illegal cables to a substation box (not sure what the box is called). You have a metro police force. Where are they?
So, Mr Mayor, I am calling on you to be proactive. Show the people of Port Elizabeth that your promise to clean up the city was heartfelt and not rhetoric to garner votes.
We, the voters, are watching!
