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The transporting of litter in a manner that is likely to scatter continues to be the main litter infringement during the course of 2017, according to Mr. Randolph Browne, Enforcement and Security Supervisor at the Solid Waste Management Corporation (SWMC). This mainly involves transporting garbage in vehicles uncovered that causes the waste to scatter on the streets en route to the landfill. Companies like skip bin hire at Western Suburbs transport rubbish professionally, but that’s not always the case with other rubbish removal vehicles. Most of these offenders according to Mr. Browne are ticketed when they arrive at the landfill, but some of them continue to disregard the punishment and repeat the offense.

He noted that the corporation conduct sting operations in a bid to help reduce incidents of uncovered garbage being transported to the landfill. But despite these efforts and even speaking to some of these haulers, the result is still the same. He noted that the persons who are likely to commit this infringement are haulers who do not regularly provide that service, as the regular haulers usually comply. He encouraged them to use a net or tarpaulin to cover the garbage and avoid spillage.

Some SWMC litter wardens are of the view that those who commit this infringement do no care and called for an increase in the fines to deter them for continuing this practice. The fine currently stands at $500.  According to Lorna De Souza, one of the senior litter wardens at the corporation, some perpetrators, in an attempt to avoid paying a fine, would say they were not aware of the rules and the punishment. “I believe the legislators probably would have thought that if that does not send a message, the other way is to dig deeper in the pockets of these alleged offenders,” Mr. Browne said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Browne released the litter enforcement figures for 2017 which showed most of the cases reported and filed were addressed. Of the eight litter removal orders issued last year, six were complied with; all five cases of lots with overgrown vegetation was addressed; only two of the unlawful deposit of litter was addressed, and all but two of the 14 fixed penalty notices (tickets or fines) were unpaid last year, some of these cases carrying over from the previous year. Those two unpaid cases have gone to magisterial court proceedings this year.

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