East London – The East London Metro is contributing to the fight against climate change by making use of trains instead of trucks to transport waste to its main landfill site.
Speaking at a workshop in East London, acting Buffalo City Metro Municipality Municipal Manager Andile Fani said the Metro was working hard to mitigate its impact on global warming and climate change.
“Our plans to participate in the fight include the reduction of waste trucks going to the landfills daily. We have a contract with Metrorail for trains to carry most of our waste to the Berlin landfill,” said Fani.
The Berlin landfill is situated about 30km outside East London on the way to King Williamstown.
The workshop, organised jointly by the Metro, the national Environmental Affairs Department and the South African Local Government Association, saw stakeholders from different departments discussing potential ways of combating climate change.
Vuyani Dayimani, Metro capital infrastructure interim director, said the workshop was also aimed at formulating climate response objectives within the Integrated Development Plan.
“These objectives need to be integrated into sector plans and we need to engage with other stakeholders,” said Dayimani.
Metro transport and planning interim director Leigh Stolworthy said the transport sector was in the process of implementing the Bus Rapid Transit system in the Metro.
“With the implementation of the BRT we are hoping to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads by encouraging passengers to use buses,” said Stolworthy.
The workshop was held in support of the international climate change conference that will start in Durban later this month. – Sithembele Sakati, BuaNews
