MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The municipality has noted that the festive season went extremely smoothly with few incidents, few fires and not one drowning, compared with recent years when drownings and major fires marred the season and emergency services were stretched terribly.
Acting municipal manager, director Carel Venter, said: "In general, tourists and visitors to public areas such as beaches and parks behaved well and the municipality is thankful that when incidents were reported, the law enforcement agencies acted swiftly.
Other municipal service delivery matters were also responded to in an effective and efficient manner, although the disruptions were an inconvenience to some.
"The municipality must also thank all role-players and participants from the public and private sector who contributed to the daily meetings of the Season Monitoring Committee.
"This assisted greatly in the successes of the tourist season. The Great Escape and other campaigns and efforts by Mossel Bay Tourism must be credited for attracting visitors well beyond the normal 'markets' for Mossel Bay. The municipality hopes this tourist season extends well into 2022 and that visitors will keep on coming back and more new visitors will be attracted to Mossel Bay."
Here are some interesting facts on law enforcement during December:
• A total of 1 182 fines were issued for traffic and municipal law contraventions.
• A total of 1 022 hours were spent on law enforcement and patrols in the municipal jurisdiction.
• 2 115 vehicles were checked for roadworthiness.
In the Mossel Bay area 39 small fires were attended to. There were no fatalities in these fires. Of these, 24 fires were rubbish, grass or bush fires.
The municipality noted that the beaches that were most popular during December were Dias, with 30 000 to 35 000 visits to the beach; Cloete se Gat (near Hartenbos River mouth), with 25 000 to 30 000 beach visits, Santos (about 23 000), Koffiehuis at Hartenbos Seefront (about 18 000) and Klein Brak Beach (about 13 000 beach visits).
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