Pezinok inhabitants expressed their joy on May 28, after the Slovak Supreme Court overturned the licence for a controversial waste dump in the western Slovak town and returned the case for reassessment to the Slovak Environmental Inspectorate (SIŽP).
Pezinok Mayor Oliver Solga called it an important day in the history of the town, which is just north of Bratislava. Zuzana Čaputová of the civic initiative Waste Dumps Do Not Belong in a Town also welcomed the verdict.
Peter Kováč, the lawyer acting for the company behind the dump, Ekologická skládka, was quite brief. “We respect fully the verdict of the Slovak Supreme Court and will take a position after it is delivered to us.” The lawyer for SIŽP, Ľubomír Fogaš, also accepted the verdict and said he was awaiting future legal steps.
The Supreme Court decided that the first instance authority in the proceeding about the Pezinok waste dump violated the rights of inhabitants. The Bratislava Environmental Inspectorate allowed a waste dump, only 400 metres form the town centre, in January 2008 based on the direction of the Regional Construction Office in Bratislava. Inhabitants claim this was issued in conflict with the Pezinok urban master-plan. The construction office was then led by Ján Man junior, son of Ján Man senior, who had applied for the licence. While residents’ groups sought legal means to block the dump its construction continued and, according to Ján Man junior, already contains waste. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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