Government pledges Nemitsas tests by end of the month

THE GOVERNMENT has still failed to approve medical tests on the populations of Omonia and Zakaki to discern whether there is a link between ill health and fumes from the nearby Nemitsas foundry, despite the fact that only one tender is on the table, from a London-based group of experts with a proven track record.

It has been four months since the submission of the sole tender offered to carry out the tests on the 1,000-strong local community in the Limassol suburb, who fear they are being exposed to dangerous pollutants.

In mid-December, the Health Ministry promised that the tests would get under way by January 10.

Public health officer Andreas Georgiou yesterday assured the Cyprus Mail that the tests would start “by the end of January, or at the very latest, very early in February”.

“It will take five to seven days to make a proper evaluation of the tender, I mean it’s a very heavy book,” he said.

But local campaigner Bernadette Charalambous says she was told a decision could have been made yesterday.

However, nothing materialised. Earlier commitments to complete tests during the summer 2000, or at the beginning of last autumn, also came to nothing.

But the government denied allegations of procrastination. “We want to do the best study we can afford. It is very important to us because we care about the health of the people, even if the Nemitsas foundry closed tomorrow, we would still do the study,” said Georgiou.

The London-based team of experts, who forced the closure of the Ergates foundry after discovering levels of toxin poisoning well over the World Health Organisation (WHO) danger level, applied to carry out tests in Omonia on September 15.

The scientists reportedly offered to do the work for £2,000 less than the fee charged for Ergates, despite having to work with a local population three times the size.

The government has persistently blamed the four-month delay in approving their application on the need to open the door to other proposals.

But none have been forthcoming. The Health Ministry is evaluating only the existing tender.

The Nemitsas foundry was forced to fit filters on its chimneys to cut down the emission pollutants from 300 milligrams per cubic metre to the European Union maximum of 50 milligrams by January 1, 2001.

But the Parents Committee of the local school, forced to close in the past when the pollution has made pupils sick, sent out a circular this week claiming the situation was as bad as ever.

“We’ve still got the stinky, fishy smell, the smoke still comes out of the chimneys and we can smell burning metal,” said Charalambous.

The Labour Ministry is responsible for ensuring that the foundry sticks to the allowed EU levels. The Limassol Chamber of Commerce issued a statement this week congratulating Nemitsas on the investment in the new filtration system.

The Health Ministry confirmed that, when commissioned, the tests would also check emission rates to rule out any question of bias.

Former Minister of Commerce, Takis Nemitsas, owns the foundry.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.