To keep residents aware of what is going on in their community following the closed meeting by members of ratepayer associations and the Mayor, Overport Ratepayers’ Association (ORA) held a public meeting with Overport residents to discuss the findings of the closed meeting, last week.
The public meeting was appreciated by all residents who attended and gave them a proper understanding of what is taking place in their community as well as an opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions. ORA Chairperson, Abdool Valodia, said that the response from residents was positive and appreciative of the work being done by the ORA.
He said that some of the points highlighted at the meting was the need for residents to be held accountable for their indiscretions such as illegal dumping as well as the need for businesses to become involved in the upliftment of Overport.
“The increased participation from residents is essential if the Overport area is to be transformed into a suburb that all residents can be proud of. Questions included the time frame for the Mayor to address the concerns raised by ORA, especially the sewage and water problems, poor condition of our roads and the vagrancy and increased number of ‘beggars’ in the area,” said Valodia.
He said that that the background and information of the ORA was presented, which was followed by a listing of the ORA achievements to date. These achievements included, together with other ratepayer bodies, representing Overport residents in the protest against tariff hikes by eThekwini Municipality.
“The ORA arranged an important meeting with the Mayor and eThekwini department heads during which the following concerns were raised. The Mayor then publicly acknowledged and undertook to address the concerns. Already, this meeting with the Mayor has born some positive results with the increased cleanliness of the area, increased police viability and closure of the soup kitchen, which, although being a great humanitarian gesture, caused many unintended problems in the area. The ORA will continue to hold eThekwini Municipality accountable to address the concerns raised,” he said.
Valodia said that the ORA also has a joint venture with WeFeedSA in performing clean-up operations in the area and has been sprucing up the Crescent Street park.
“Security companies were invited to present at the meeting. The ORA has been able to arrange a very appealing deal with Blue Security which is exclusive to residents of Overport for a limited period only. Captain Chetty from Metro Police addressed the meeting and highlighted reporting procedures and Metro’s increased presence in Overport,” said Valodia.
