Munster Express Online

Illegal dumping of rubbish along country roads in South Kilkenny is a blight on the countryside and all that rural living stand for. Yes, we have been highlighting this practice for a long time now but, readers, it is getting worse. Last Sunday, for example, on the roads around where I walk, I counted five new bags dumped on one road and four on the other. We said some weeks ago that the situation was grave and if anyone concerned should contact the column. Well, they did so: a good county councillor came up and saw for himself what was been dumped, and a county councillor from County Waterford was also expressed the view that something will have to be done about this nationwide problem. Cllr Breathnach of the Labour Party contacted us and said that representations had been made for the cleaning-up of same in many areas, and it is being monitored on a regular basis. This column made it clear that the only solution would involve collecting rubbish for free and putting a charge on water instead. Now we read that Cllr McGuinness of Kilkenny has also come to the same reasoning; that people are dumping to avoid paying for refuse collection services. The public representatives will have to go one step further and remove the payment; otherwise it will cost the tax payer even more in the long run. Anyway, anyone out there to save our countryside, please ask a friend to tell another friend not to dump litter sacks full of household rubbish on the roadsides of South Kilkenny. Bhuiochas.