Greens protest against ‘let us spray’ Polis

By Martin Hellicar

THE WIDESPREAD practice of spraying weed killer on road-side verges and wasteland in built-up areas poses a serious health and environmental risk, environmentalists said yesterday.

In an announcement, the Ecological Movement group focused on weed-control practice in Polis Chrysochou, Paphos. Polis municipality had repeatedly turned a deaf ear to the protests of a local resident concerned about the dangers of spraying, the greens claimed.

“The municipality worker doing the spraying was wearing a mask, which is indicative of how dangerous the herbicide was, but no official thought was given about the risk to children using the roads,” the Ecological Movement said.

The herbicide used could also contaminate the soil and groundwater, they said.

But a Polis municipality official dismissed these concerns as groundless.

He said spraying was a necessary road safety measure: “Because of the rains, which have come early this year, the weeds have shot up, making road side signs invisible.”

The municipality never sprayed on empty lots, as the greens claimed, but only on road verges, the official insisted.

“The sprays used are not dangerous, they are deactivated on contact with the soil,” he said.