Three car wrecks in St. Peters, a neighbourhood with many abandoned vehicles.
PHILIPSBURG--The ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) has removed approximately 70 cars in the Great Bay, Upper Prince’s Quarter, and Cul de Sac areas since the car wrecks removal project began in October 2021.
“To date, the ministry has taken inventory of 150 vehicles posing a nuisance to society and the environment,” stated VROMI minister Egbert Doran in written answers to questions from parliament concerning the draft 2022 budget.
Nearly half of these cars were categorised as abandoned vehicles. According to the minister of VROMI, this depicts “a troubling synopsis of the way society contributes to an existing waste crisis.” Only a small number of cars were reported for removal by their owners.
Big trucks and heavy equipment hidden in the bushes will be collected by crane trucks.
The ministry expects the number of removed car wrecks to increase as the removal team progresses into Dutch Quarter and neighbouring districts as well as the Cole Bay and Simpson Bay areas.
The current project is financed and executed solely by VROMI’s department of infrastructure management operational budget. According to Doran, there was no budget limit for car wrecks removal yet, but assessments were being carried out in various districts to determine the cost of the project. The ministry will allocate funding within the budget 2022 based on those assessments and the urgency of the removals, stated Doran.
