kougademocrat

I would like to appeal to mothers, fathers and caregivers to help make Guy Fawkes safe and crime-free for everyone this weekend.

Guy Fawkes is marked annually on 5 November and has become associated with traditions that hurt communities.

The burning of tyres is one of the most alarming local traditions associated with this day.

We would like to plea with parents not to allow their children to do this.

Tyres were made of toxic compounds which, when burnt, release poisonous gases into the air.

This poison is then inhaled by those nearby. Babies, children, the elderly, asthmatics and immune-suppressed individuals are very vulnerable to these pollutants.

This includes people with TB or HIV/Aids.

Burning tyres are also a serious fire risk and cause significant damage to our roads and sidewalks.

Furthermore, it is against the law to discharge fireworks anywhere in the Kouga region.

The current by-law completely bans the discharge of fireworks. Not even the municipality is allowed to designate an area for this purpose.

The challenge is that policing the by-law is near impossible, especially as the municipal law enforcement unit was not fully developed under the previous Council.

Our plea to residents this Guy Fawkes is to practice responsible citizenry and help safeguard their communities.

Please help us spread awareness that fireworks are not permitted.

They pose a fire risk, can cause serious injury to people and traumatize animals.

The new Council will be reviewing the municipal by-laws so as to allow residents the opportunity to decide, for example, whether they wanted designated areas for the shooting of fireworks.

It is up to all of us, as Kouga’s people, to decide what is best for our area.

We look forward to engaging with communities so that, together, we can decide on the way forward.

Regards

Elza

Tags: Guy Fawkes

This entry was posted on November 4, 2016 at 6:21 am and is filed under kouga municipality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.