Fly-tippers face their day in court
In Ghent the local public prosecutors’ office is holding a special court session to process cases against fly-tippers. Today there are 17 defendants. Some are accused of routine offences, but others are held responsible for discarding car wrecks and even boats.
Defendants risk fines over 1,000 euros.
Fly-tipping irritates many people and is also a big problem in Ghent, the capital of East Flanders. Last year, on average, 89 complaints were made each day of the working week. In all 835,000 kilos of waste were dumped without permission. The authorities issued 700 fines. This is the ‘week of enforcement’ and special teams will be out and about detecting instances of fly-tipping and tracking down culprits. Waste resulting from fly-tipping is always cleared up, but this week an official charged with tracking down the culprits will join the clean-up teams. Refuse collectors encounter plastic bags filled with waste that should not be there, shards of glass, abandoned cables as well as discarded edibles.