Pretoria - In a bid to rope in residents to uplif their environment and help with the City of Tshwane’s vision to “go green”, the City has launched an adopt-a-spot programme.
Apart from unused road reserves, walkways and illegal dumping sites zoned as public areas, the City has urged residents to maintain a clean, vibrant environment on their own.
Environment and Agriculture Management MMC Katlego Mathebe said through the programme the City was encouraging industries, companies and residents to adopt any open space belonging to the City at no cost.
Once approved the adopter would be in charge of maintaining and cleaning the area of any alien vegetation and illegal dumping.
The initiative was intended to not only create job opportunities but also a clean city with the aid of residents, the MMC said.
Mathebe said unlike leasing an open space from the City which entailed paying for rights to use the area for private use, adopting a spot carried no costs, and meant the area would not be restricted to the public.
“The adopted spots remain in the public domain and the City will not disburse any funds or payments to applicants for any maintenance on or upgrades to the public open spaces. The overall vision of the programme is a cleaner environment for residents.”
The City hoped the initiative would build on corporate responsibility, attract investments and lead to skills transfer.
“Developing aesthetically pleasing, healthy and safe open recreational spaces will ultimately benefit the entire community and help the City fight ecological degradation, illegal land use and illegal dumping.”
Pretoria News