Wellington farmers outraged at garbage plan

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The facility is due to be built in the industrial area of Wellington, a farming centre.

The project could involve hundreds of tons of waste being brought in daily from neighbouring towns to be burned to generate electricity for the town.

"They want to turn us into a garbage dump," said farmer Allen Harris. "Wellington produces less than 50t of garbage a day so the idea is to bring the garbage from Franschhoek and Stellenbosch to our landfill."

Harris said farmers were furious about toxic fumes, water contamination and the huge garbage trucks.

He said the community had not been properly consulted about the R350-million project.

The Drakenstein municipality did not respond to requests for clarity.