NOT IN OUR BACKYARD!

Maria Park residents in Wentworth are planning legal action against the
Engen Refinery and eThekwini Municipality, who want to build low cost
housing in their community.

The homes are intended for the Rainbow Flats community, who, according to
Maria Park citizens, are "notorious" for drugs and prostitution.

The Rainbow Flats community made headlines earlier this year when its
residents told President Thabo Mbeki that their area was virtually under
siege from criminals in the area who were terrorising them.

Mbeki was also told that substance abuse was rampant in the area and that
men were pimping their young wives on the streets to survive.

The building of houses is a public-private partnership between Engen and
the municipality. They will each spend R8 million on the project.

When Mbeki visited Went-worth he was appalled by the living conditions
there and called for urgent intervention.

Maria Park residents complain that their area is to be used as a dumping
site and they are worried about the kind of people that will be relocated
there. They are also unhappy because the houses are to be built on a park.

Spokesman for Maria Park Residents' Association Gregory Goldstone told the
Daily News that they did not allow drugs in their area.

He said the Rainbow Flats residents were known for running shebeens and drugs.

"This is our only well established park. It has indigenous trees and they
play an important role in minimising harmful emissions from the plants like
Engen and Sapref.

"What they are doing is totally undesirable. It will bring about unwanted
social conditions and disturb a peaceful and stable neighbourhood.
Properties will devalue with the construction of low cost houses in the
middle of a well-established area and our children will no longer have any
facilities," he said.

He said they were planning to get a court interdict to prevent the
construction of the houses. "We want them to look elsewhere, not here. We
know that the reason Engen is pushing ahead with their relocation is
because their area falls within the 200-metre buffer zone approved for
major hazardous installations," he said.

Engen's Wayne Hartmann said the relocation was done by the municipality and
that they were just assisting with funds.

"They asked us to assist. We saw that it was a wonderful project to assist
people who are living in bad conditions."

Procurement and Deputy Manager Derek Naidoo said that it was not true that
they were going to destroy the park and that they would build low cost housing.

"The kind of houses we are going to build are much better than the normal
low cost housing. They will be between R80 000 and R110 000. And we are not
going to destroy the entire park," he added.