ENVIRONMENT minister Edwin Poots has vowed that those responsible for illegal dumping sites in north Belfast will be pursued "vigorously" through the courts.
Mr Poots also said the clearance of two waste sites at Hillview Road/Crumlin Road and Edenderry Industrial Estate should be completed by the end of this week.
Work to clear the sites was underway yesterday just a day after residents protested at one of the sites.
They have been plagued by an influx of rats and flies caused by thousands of pieces of waste allowed to fester from lorry loads of dumped waste, including food, used mattresses, asbestos sheets, wood and gas bottles.
Some residents have even left their homes due to large numbers of pests associated with the rubbish.
Staff from the NI Environment Agency (NIEA) were yesterday clearing the site at Hillview Road/Crumlin Road, where they said "unauthorised disposal of controlled wastes" had taken place.
A NIEA spokesman also said officials were "investigating the unauthorised disposal and treatment of controlled wastes" at the Edenderry site.
He said the landowner had appointed a contractor to carry out the immediate "removal of the wastes" and officials would be "monitoring closely the progress with this work".
The spokesman also said Mr Poots had "given his assurance that his department will pursue this case vigorously in the courts and do all it can to ensure those responsible are prosecuted".
Speaking in the Stormont Assembly yesterday, the environment minister said: "It is an illegal site and therefore the enforcement branch of the NIEA will be tasked with carrying out all the investigations and bringing forward a recommendation to the Public Prosecution Service to take this matter to court on the basis of the information that they find."
He added: "It will be robustly investigated and if the appropriate information comes forward that will be taken to court."
Mr Poots also warned offenders they faced prosecution as he urged courts to impose heavy fines on those responsible for fly-tipping.
