Monthly Archives: February 2018

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Geocentric Launches New App

“As Geocentric we are very proud to launch our new mobile phone reporting application,” said Gene Lohrentz of the urban management company recently. “This is another way in which we are enabling our CID business and property owners to interact with their City Improvement District Management. 

 

“We want our CID contributors to become part of our family by interacting with us about issues they might encounter.  The mobile application makes that possible on the devices most people have with them every day.” 

Geocentric Reporting App 2

 

The Geocentric app allows users to easily report issues in the City Improvement Districts managed by Geocentric Urban Management based in South Africa.  Currently, the areas covered by this Application include Beaconvale Industrial Area, Elsies River Industrial, Glosderry, Maitland, Salt River, Somerset West CBD, Stikland Industrial, Strand CBD and the Tygervalley CBD.  

 

With this application, users can report urban defects, crime incidents, public safety issues and general comments.  “We will acknowledge your report and provide you with feedback throughout the process.  We will also send you ‘Alerts’ of problems in your CID area, such as water leaks or power outages and we can even send crime alerts and safety tips to your mobile phone. 

 

The Geocentric Reporting Application is Free of Charge 

 

Simply install it and register as a user when using it for the first time.  If you need any help, please contact support@geocentric.co.za 

Geocentric Reporting App 1

 

Let’s get started! 

 

  • Simply download and install the App from the Google Play or Apple App Store  
  • Register as a user, using the app when you open it for the first time 
  • We will send you a confirmation email and you will have to activate your app by clicking on the activation link in the email – this is to ensure we are dealing with people and not spammers. 
  • Go to your email and verify your email address 
  • Log in and you are ready to go! 

 

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Urban Management Trolley Introduced

The Geocentric Urban Management Trolley Project was initiated in 2017. 

The aim of the project is to provide urban cleaning and maintenance teams with a platform to improve their daily tasks, assist with moving of equipment and tools and enable recycling while performing their tasks. 

A few design considerations were introduced into the design of the trolley including 

  • The ability to move heavy loads of litter or recycling from one point to another without effort or potential injury 
  • Create high visibility for the cleaning and maintenance teams 
  • Have quick and easy access to tools and equipment 
  • The ability, even when fully loaded, to easy ascend and descend kerbs and sidewalks 
  • Be able to separate waste as they work to support the recycling initiative 

To achieve some of these design principles, Geocentric looked at simple solutions from other designs, for example, the stair-climbing suitcases used by so many travellers.  By scaling up the design for the urban management trolleys, we could produce a sidewalk and pavement climbing trolley where the urban management worker needs minimum effort to get onto and off pavements to perform their duties.  

(See photos of step 1, 2 and 3 illustrating this concept.) 

step1

step2

step3

The trolleys were also designed to be pushed from any side with key tools located in the middle so that it is in fact easy to use it for a two-man team operation.  On each side of the trolley a plastic tool box allows storage for small tools. 

Recyclables like tin cans, glass and plastic bottles are collected by the urban management workers throughout the day as they clean the streets and public spaces and at the end of each day they separate the items into baskets whereafter Geocentric recycles the items. 

trolley 4

 

trolley 5trolley 6

This is another way in which we make CID operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly as we prevent a vast amount of waste from simply going to landfills. 

Geocentric have rolled out these trollies in the Elsies River and Beaconvale City Improvement Districts and plan to roll them out to all the other CIDs under Geocentric management through the course of 2018. 

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SRBID plays Vital Role in Saving Water

The Salt River BID plays a vital role in the efforts by all Capetonians to save water. 

 

Quite often our patrol vehicles detect the leaking water meters and burst pipes in the small hours of the morning and through the SRBID Control Room alert the City of Cape Town as soon as possible.  This results in a quick reaction from maintenance crews but more importantly, vast amounts of wasted water are stopped from leaking away into the stormwater system because the City can act swiftly to shut off water supply and repairs can commence. 

 

Often the only evidence of this vital work is the sandy patch in the road from the work done while the rest of us were fast asleep.  

 

Picture: City Crews at work on a bust pipe with City maintenance team attending to the problem:

Water - City Crews at work

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SRBID making a Difference in the Area

Thanks to the commitment of all who are involved in the Salt River Improvement District drive, much needed progress is being made in various ways. 

 

Accompanying images tell the story of how problems like security issues, illegal dumping and the confiscation of stolen trolleys and wheelie-bins are successfully addressed by the teams. 

 

The Public Safety issues that are addressed during the day-to-day activities, include problems related to the following:  

  • Illegal Dumping 
  • Engaging with the public (public safety officers engage with all people in the public space to ensure that everyone is aware of the SRBID’s presence and activities. This is done in conjunction with and in support of the city’s law enforcement officers who oversee such activities. If something suspicious is found, the law enforcement agencies and/or SAPS act accordingly. 
  • Bin scratching  
  • CCTV in action  
  • Trolley and wheelie-bin confiscation 

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The Cleaning issues include: 

  • Litter picking 
  • De-weeding 
  • Sweeping streets 

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On the Urban management side, the SRBID Management continues to log all urban and infrastructure defects as C3 notifications with the City of Cape Town for correction. The accompanying photos show the result of these actions as the City and other partners address issues. 

Photographs: 

Demonstrating the variety of activities that the ERCID engages in, sometimes in collaboration with teams of the CCT and law enforcement agencies.