The garbage contractor for the Lund Harbour Authority says he’s “getting hammered” by losses from people not paying their way for trash.
Andrew Johnson of APJ Services has been serving the authority for the last six years. In addition to taking the authority’s trash and cleaning, he is also allowed to provide a drop-off, take-away service for boaters and islanders.
Johnson says he’s getting short-changed by people, especially from Savary Island.
“I have to pay the same rate as everybody else (at Augusta Recyclers) to get rid of their garbage as a citizen of the qathet Regional District. I do it as a business because it’s a convenience so that you’re not having to put your stinky, maggoty garbage into your $100,000 Lexus,” Johnson said in an interview with Vista Radio.
He says there’s no excuse since there are clear signs with pricing, scales to weigh trash, a calculator and these are people with the means to pay for the two-bucks-per-pound service.
The small business owner explained he’s lost $12,700 in the last three years – $5,000 alone last year having to deal with unpaid garbage.
“You know the real kick in the pants about the whole thing is I’m not dealing with people that are marginal in society that have issues. I’m dealing with people that have so much money they can lease a boat for a week at $212,500,” Johnson said.
In that case, Johnson said the crew of the yacht never bothered to pay for their trash.
“When a single vessel comes in and only pays half or less than half of what their rate is, I can’t survive like that,” Johnson said.
While some Savary Islanders and boaters may say “what’s the big deal” about a couple of pounds of trash, Johnson says it’s easy for costs to add up when the hamlet can see 1,000 people on a busy day as it’s a “jump off point at the end of road.”
With the harbour on private property and no provincial or federal laws covering trash specific to this situation, Johnson says he’s in a legal black hole when it comes to enforcement.
“I just can’t figure out people’s level of self-entitlement in this and I just don’t understand it. Everybody makes garbage. You just got to pay for it. Wherever you take it, just pay for it. Don’t make it somebody else’s responsibility,” Johnson said.
