In Drenthe, nine fines were handed out last year for violations on the water. That is as many as in 2020. However, the number of fines was higher than in the years before corona.
This is apparent from an analysis by ANP/LocalFocus based on figures from the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB). In total, the ‘perpetrators’ in our province had to pay 2285 euros in fines. In 2020, that was 1,238 euros with the same number of violations. Only four fines were handed out in 2019 and 2017. At that time, ‘only’ a few hundred euros flowed from Drenthe to the CJIB’s coffers.
By far the most fines were issued in 2021 in the municipality of Noordenveld. Eight times a voucher was issued there with a total amount of 2210 euros. The ninth violation came from the municipality of Hoogeveen (75 euros). The checks on safety on the water are carried out by the water police and by boas (extraordinary investigative officers) of, for example, Rijkswaterstaat and the province.
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Drenthe is the province where by far the fewest fines have been handed out for years. After Drenthe, Utrecht will follow with a hundred fines in 2021. Most prints were distributed in North Holland: 1,101 fines. The CJIB collected two tons in this province alone. Due to all the fines throughout the Netherlands, more than 730,000 euros flowed into the account of the collection agency.
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Nationwide, fewer fines were handed out for water violations last year than the year before. Enforcers issued almost 3800 fines in 2021, about 20 percent less than in 2020. However, the number of fines was still higher than in the years before corona.
According to Jeroen van den Heuvel, head of the water sports department of trade association Hiswa-Recron, many more people took to the water during the corona crisis. “Both the use of existing vessels and the purchase of new vessels has increased enormously. In our experience, this was partly because people decided to go on holiday in the Netherlands during corona and because you can easily comply with the corona measures on a boat.”
Of all the municipalities, the most fines were handed out on the water in Amsterdam last year: 467. That is an increase compared to the previous year, when the number of fines in the capital fell for the first time in years. Other municipalities where many offenders were caught are water-rich regions such as Steenwijkerland, which includes Giethoorn, Wijdemeren (Loosdrechtse Plassen) and Súdwest-Fryslân (the Frisian lakes).