$6,000 in fines for burning tyres

A VEHICLE tyre dealer and two other men were fined a total of $6,000 for burning tyres on the side of the road.

Sunil Bisram, Anwar Mohammed and Bissoondath Mohase appeared yesterday before senior magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally in the Chaguanas magistrates' court, charged with the offence of littering in a public place.

After they pleaded guilty, prosecutor Sgt Elizabeth Toussaint told the magistrate that at about 1.50 pm on Saturday, police were on mobile patrol when they began to follow a van along Munroe Road.

Toussaint said when the van exited the Chaguanas flyover, men came out and began throwing the tyres on the side of the road. They then lit them afire. Police confronted them and Bisram replied, "Boss give me ah chance nah?"

Attorney Francois Benoit pleaded on the men’s behalf saying Bisram, 48, was the owner of a tyre shop and Mohammed,19, was an employee.

Toussaint presented Dougdeen-Bally with photos of the tyres on fire. Benoit said Bisram usually had arrangements with someone to collect the used tyres from his shop, but there had been some delay. The tyres were piling up and he had to get rid of them.

The magistrate responded, "We have to be more cognisant of our environment. We are getting away with a lot. Tyres can be recycled, it is not like medical waste."

She fined each of them $2,000 which they must pay in 14 days or serve four months in jail.