WILLEMSTAD — The Public Prosecutor has drawn up a so-called new Appeal Procès-Verbal to enable effective actions against environmental offences. Together with the police, SKS, and the Environment police, the Public Prosecutor hopes to start booking offenders more effectively within short. The violations could vary from piddling in public to illegal dumping of rubbish.
Apart from that which is washed ashore from the sea due to the current, St. Joris is also an area where a lot of illegal rubbish is dumped; from defect kitchen articles to wrecks or rubbish, (see picture). This month is ‘Luna di Limpiesa’ (Clean-up Month), and more attention will be paid to those polluting the island. In this framework, several cleaning actions will take place. However, the island will only be clean if the mentality changes and everyone neatly disposes of their rubbish at the relevant dumping sites. With the new Appeal Procès-Verbal, the Public Prosecutor hopes to approach more offenders within short.
In consultation with the involved services and General Legal Affairs, a standard procès-verbal was drawn up, similar to that of a traffic offence, stating categories that are to be ticked off. Previously, procès-verbals for environmental offences were manually entered into the computer, which took up too much time from the understaffed district teams. "We are now working on all technical aspects for the automatic input of the bookings regarding environmental offences. We are curious how many reports would be made out and how much money this would generate," says public prosecutor Guillano Schoop. Between 900 and 1000 bookings on traffic-offences are made out per month.
The fines for environmental offences amount between 25 guilders for piddling in public and 500 guilders for serious environmental pollution. Whoever is caught dumping rubbish illegally, such as an old washing machine in the mondi (brushwood), will receive a fine and the opportunity to still remove the rubbish. An additional fine will be given if the rubbish is not removed. That measure has been implemented, as a police officer patrolling alone cannot compete against four men who are in the process of dumping rubbish illegally.
Environment has been given more priority, says Schoop. Even though offenders were prosecuted, especially during December just before the turn of the year when the massive cleaning of gardens takes place, and the rubbish is dumped illegally, it only resulted in a few dozen bookings.
Cleaning-up Month
Exactly during this month, the national Luna di Limpiesa additional attention will be given to the fact that various areas on the island are still so polluted. For example, the route along Playa Kanoa is a favorite area to dump rubbish such as old refrigerators, carcasses, etc. The people are simply too lazy to drive to the Selikor-landfill at Malpais or to the transfer-station at Koraal Specht. Either they don’t want to pay for dumping their rubbish, or they are allowed to dump it elsewhere, such as on terrains of private persons who actually demand payment, which is less than what Selikor demands. Koraal Tabak is one of those terrains, as this newspaper reported on yesterday’s front page. An eyewitness stated that, during a walking- and biking-event last Sunday, two dump trucks ‘drove straight through the sporting people to dump their rubbish, and fifteen minutes later roared straight through the sporting people and audience again’. According to the owner of the trucks, it will cost him at least 450 guilders to dump 15 tons of rubbish at Selikor, as they demand 30 guilders per ton of rubbish. "They should either make it less expensive or charge per load" according to the owner who said he was not the only one, as ‘certainly 90 percent of the dump trucks dump their rubbish at Koraal Tabak’. The owner did not want to say how much they were charged.
The interim head of the Environmental Service confirms the question of an illegal activity. A nuisance permit was not granted and it is against the Waste Products Regulation, as this prohibits third parties to charge for illegal rubbish dumping on their terrain. He expects that the Environmental Service will take the necessary measures within short.
Asbestos
Moreover, ‘clean’ rubbish may be dumped at the landfill free of charge, said Selikor-director Wesley Kook, as it can be reused. Payment is only required if the rubbish includes for example wood and plastic.
Unofficially, Kook is aware of what is going on at Koraal Tabak. "It is cheaper, but one does not consider the consequences, for example, houses could not be built there if the dumped rubbish contained asbestos.
All waste is examined before being dumped at the landfill".
Moreover, ‘clean’ rubbish may be dumped at the landfill free of charge, said Selikor-director Wesley Kook, as it can be reused. Payment is only required if the rubbish includes for example wood and plastic. Unofficially, Kook is aware of what is going on at Koraal Tabak. "It is cheaper, but one does not consider the consequences, for example, houses could not be built there if the dumped rubbish contained asbestos.All waste is examined before being dumped at the landfill".
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