Terminal Operator Launches Appeal to Bar Prison Construction
Seaport terminal operator Vopak EOS announced on February 17 that it has submitted an appeal with the Tallinn District Court to block construction of the new Tallinn Prison adjacent the company's facilities in the Muuga Harbor area.
Vopak EOS is hoping to overturn last month's decision by the Tallinn Administrative Court, which rejected the company's arguments against the project, granting the Ministry of Justice permission to build the facility just 100 meters from the terminal operator's territory.
The company sees the close proximity of the prison as having a negative impact on business.
”All risk analyses confirm that the development of the prison within the safety zone of the terminal, pipeline operations and Maardu railway station will obviously interfere and limit future activities of Vopak EOS. Moreover, as a result of the dispute, currently a 25 million euro investment into new facilities in Maardu railway infrastructure have been blocked by actions of the Ministry of Justice,” Vopak EOS chairman Arnout Lugtmeijer said in a statement.
The Ministry of Justice argued in the initial court case that Vopak EOS had agreed to the project in 2007, and that the ministry had already spent 127,824 euros of taxpayer money to develop the site.
For its part, the company said that it has offered to cover the ministry's losses, and that the ministry could alternatively build the facility in the Rae municipality, where it is also developing a prison site.