On Sunday, six HGVs were seized by the authorities in Ghent. The drivers of the vehicles were found observing their weekly rest in “appalling” conditions in a makeshift lorry park at the side of a road in the city’s port.
According to Belgian news website avs.be, a Ghent labour lawyer monitoring so-called ‘social dumping’ practices found a group of foreign drivers living and working in what was referred to as “appalling” conditions.
On Sunday, the Ghent labor auditor was then called in to check on an improvised lorry park located on Daniël Kinetstraat street and Alphonse Sifferlaan street in the Port of Ghent.
The auditor found that there were about 50 trucks from different companies. After the questioning the drivers, the auditor then learned about their living and working conditions.
Photo: avs.be
It was reported that the drivers are often far away from home for a long time and live in their truck. The improvised lorry park only had two portable toilets and there was no running water available.
In addition to the 6 HGVs, a van and two trailers were also seized. The trailers were used as a makeshift “kitchen” and “dining room”.
Photo credit: AVS / YouTube