Home owners fined for
environmental violations
PHILIPSBURG--During her first performance in the Court of First Instance as environmental prosecutor, Ludwina Sprock demanded some hefty fines for property owners who seemed to be reluctant to do something about wastewater running off their properties. It wasn’t the home owners’ lucky day, because in most cases the judge followed the prosecutor’s demand.
Apart from a new face in the Prosecutor’s seat behind the table in the big room at the Courthouse, a seat previously taken by Paul Mooij, it was business as usual Wednesday during the court’s environmental session.
Several homeowners were summoned to appear before Judge Frans Vennix to report once more on the progress of projects to remedy illegal and polluting situations on their premises.
The owner of Dolly’s Apartments in Nazareth was called to the Court to report on the progress of a new water-treatment system on his apartment complex. It appeared that the owner had already invested US $22,000 to prevent the flow of wastewater. A contractor told the Judge that an additional $15,000 would be needed to finish the project by the end of the month.
The Prosecutor asked the judge for a fine of $5,000 or 60 days in jail, with six months’ probation.
The owner’s representative said the contractor was to be blamed for the delay, because he was “dragging his feet,” but the judge said that in all cases the homeowner remained responsible. He therefore followed the prosecutor in her demand.
It appeared that apartment owner T.R. of Poinsettia Road in Betty’s Estate had also been dragging his feet in trying to put a stop to the flow of wastewater into his neighbour’s yard, much to the frustration of the woman in question. “The water is still flowing the same way,” the woman said. “He is lingering,” she said about her neighbour.
It appeared that T.R. had only increased the system’s holding capacity for wastewater by installing an extra tank, but he still could not present the court with the requested quotation for a solid solution.
Considering that the Prosecutor’s Office had already been working on a solution in this case since 1995, Sprock asked the judge to impose a $5,000 fine or 100 days in jail with one year’s probation.
Judge Vennix did not see a reason to deviate from this request. “Go to work now,” the judge said, before hammering down this case with his gavel.
The owner of an apartment complex on A.Th. Illidge Road was not present because he was in Dominican Republic for health reasons. Several illegal shacks on his premises have to be removed and replaced by new dwellings. The man had also received a $6,000 fine for running sewage.
According to the Prosecutor the man had shown good intentions, but apparently there was a glitch in the quotation for the construction and financing of new dwellings.
The Prosecutor suggested a suspended $1,000 fine for the overflow of grey water onto the streets, and $6,000 or 300 days in jail for the illegal construction of dwellings. Both demands were to be with two years’ probation on the condition that the illegal residences were to be replaced by approved houses.
The judge decided not to impose a sentence for the flow of sewage because this problem had been solved in the meantime, but he followed the prosecutor’s demand where the illegal dwellings were concerned.
The case against the owner of a house on Raspberry Road in St. Peters was postponed until November 7. He had been summoned to appear because grey water was running off the premises, but he did not show up. The police will make sure that he appears in court next time.
