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It was a beautiful morning as old and young came out in numbers for the annual railway line clean-up organised by the Friends of Harfield Village Parks on Sunday 5 May.
With everyone in high spirits and excited for the clean-up, one of the organisers, Gail Morrison says they are happy with the turn- out. Residents cleaned up the railway line from Kenilworth train station to Harfield train station.
“We had a lot of volunteers this year, we will get more done. Friends of Harfield Village Parks trimmed one side of the railway line and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) trimmed the other before the clean-up. The place looks nice but we had to tackle all the litter that is thrown out of the trains,” says Morrison.
Volunteers picked up a lot of rubbish on the tracks including nappies, condoms, beer bottles, chips packets, human hair and socks, among other things. Filling bag after bag, bakkies on the other side of the line had to go back and forth to collect and drop off the waste at the dumping site.
With the amount of litter on the railway line, Morrison admits that one clean-up a year is not enough.
“We can do better but there is a lot of work involved. It is the marketing and getting the volunteers.
“We are appealing on more people that can volunteer and we can do this more often,” she says.
Henk Egberink, a resident who participated in the clean-up, says other areas should also do the same. “We want areas like Wynberg and Kenilworth to also do what residents in Harfield have done. We need a change in attitude and people must be involved in such initiatives,” he says.
Metrorail project manager George Kiewiets says they are grateful to the residents who came out in numbers.
“We also acknowledge the activism in partnership with Metrorail to keep the community clean,” he says.
