A RAUCOUS party at the West End Club, which continued into the early hours of Sunday morning, has left Kimberley residents seething while the maintenance team at the facility has been left with a cricket field that is currently unusable due to the amount of broken glass left behind by revelers.
The aftermath of the Metro FM Heatwave Kimberley event was still clearly visible yesterday as the shards of broken glass glittered in the sun between bags of refuse. A dry pool of vomit could still be seen on the pitch, just backwards of a length, while the risk of debris being turned into projectiles has made mowing the field an extremely dangerous task.
Dudley Dally is in charge of the maintenance and upkeep of the facility, which serves as the homeground for Burma Lads and West End Cricket clubs, while also accommodating several others for training.
“I am absolutely disgusted by the condition of the facility as it is going to be a massive task making it safe for cricket again,” he said. “There are matches on the field every weekend.
“We do not know how long it will take to clean up this mess and make the field safe again as we do not have any staff available during the festive season.
“The last time, after an event, it took 10 people five days to complete the job.”
Dally said that the municipality should assist in the clean up after giving the organisers of Saturday’s event permission to use the field without first consulting with him or any of the cricket clubs this despite the fact that “all costs to maintain the grounds come out of my own pocket and sponsorships”.
Gregory Carstens, who also spends hours ensuring that the field is kept in pristine condition, was one of hundreds of Kimberley residents who took to social media to express his disgust.
“I can only weep when I think of all the hours I have spent after work watering and maintaining that cricket field,” he said in a post. “After only two functions, everything is completely ruined, broken or plundered.
“We now have to start all over again. In a month we resume our fixtures for the season and it is going to take weeks to remove all the broken glass from the field in order to make it safe for training and matches.
“Complaints to the municipality are falling on deaf ears. We have even threatened not to renew our rental agreement. This is how a club with a rich history is ruined and we will be meeting on Wednesday (today) to see what happens next.”
CEO of the Northern Cape Chamber of Commerce, Sharon Steyn, said that she had been inundated with calls from fuming residents while the public’s reaction to Saturday’s event had proven anything but flattering.
“People are furious,” she said yesterday. “Kimberley is desperate for entertainment and every effort must be made to bring events to the city as this is what the people really want.
“However, there are ways of handling these things. The correct documentation needs to be completed and permission must be granted by the relevant authorities. Among those who must be informed of such an event, well in advance, are residents living in the immediate vicinity while there are also restrictions on how loud the music may be and what time it should be turned off.”
Steyn said that she had received several complaints from residents across the city regarding the music that continued until the early hours of Sunday morning.
“The party could be heard for miles,” she added. “There were people calling me from nowhere near the West End Club.
“However, it was the residents living in the immediate vicinity of the venue that endured the worst of it as they not only had to contend with the loud music but also with vehicles parking on their pavements and in driveways, creating a traffic nightmare.”
Municipal spokesman, Sello Matsie, said that the municipality had also been inundated with complaints from members of the public, but distanced itself from the event adding that grievances should rather be directed to the event organisers.
“The matter will be taken up with organisers of the event and we will also look at how to avoid similar challenges in the future,” he said.
“The cleaning of the public facility is for the organisers and should there be any additional work, the municipality will do it and send the account to those responsible for the event.
“This principle applies to all events and it should be made very clear that this national event was not organised by the Sol Plaatje Municipality.”
Attempts to reach the organisers of the event were unsuccessful yesterday.