Town of Victoria Park CEO Carl Askew has taken to social media to publicly apologise to residents as their streets continue to pile up with rubbish after issues with its bulk waste collection service.
He said a “few challenges” had affected the service’s schedule, especially in Lathlain and Carlisle.
These included unexpected volumes of waste, along with unapproved items being put out and incidents of illegal dumping.
In an update posted today, the town said its contractors had finished waste collections in areas bounded by Orrong Road, Briggs Street, Shepperton Road and Mint Street and were now working in Burswood.
“We are working closely with our contractor to get things back on track,” Mr Askew told residents in a Facebook post.
“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to restore the level of service you expect and deserve.”
His post received more than 140 comments, with residents not holding back in showing their frustration and disappointment about the situation.
Commentators described the rubbish as an “eyesore” and complained it looked like they lived in the “ghetto”.
“This response is insulting,” one commentator said.
“A weak apology buried under a list of excuses? You blame residents for putting the ‘wrong’ waste as if it justifies the town’s failure to do its job.”
“Why wasn’t this apology done four weeks ago?” another said.
“It’s embarrassing that a town like Victoria Park has the same issue every year,” another added.
Some commentators said people need to take a bit of responsibility about how they packed and placed their items for collection.
“It is meant to be bulk rubbish — bigger items, not lots of bits and pieces thrown onto huge piles. This is what has held up things all over!” one resident said.
Mr Askew said the town would provide daily updates via Facebook and the town’s news channel.
It is anticipated that most of the collection should be completed by this Saturday.