THE Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust (Duct) has called on businesses in the Camps Drift vicinity to help the organisation keep the Msunduzi river clean and improve the appearance of the area.
Duct has launched a programme headed by Portia Vilakazi called “Keep Camps Drift Clean Project” that looks to adopt stretches of the Camps Drift canal spanning the area from Barnsley road to Ernie Pierce weir near College Road.
According to Sanele Vilakazi from Duct, the area, which is home to a number of big businesses, is not in an acceptable state.
“What we are doing is removing alien invasive plants that grow within that vicinity. We also remove all the rubbish and solid waste,” said Vilakazi. “We are also looking to beautify Camps Drift by putting certain measures in place, whether it’s planting indigenous plants and making sure that the grass is cut regularly. We are looking to improve the appeal of that area because at the moment it is really not at a good state because of solid waste and other things.”
While calling for more companies to work with them, Vilakazi said that they had received huge help from aluminium smelting company Alumicor Maritzburg. Through the help of the firm, Duct has been able to employ two people to work with Portia in the clean-up project and they work three days a week cleaning the banks of the river, which is also used by paddlers to train.
“We initiated this programme as Duct, but we would like to rope in more industries in that area because we strongly believe that they can benefit a lot from being a part of the programme,” said Vilakazi.
“If they can lend a helping hand, it will improve the appearance even for their businesses and grow their clientele.” — Witness Reporter.