A CONTAINER full of potentially dangerous toxic material that has been sitting in the Limassol port since 1997 will be transferred to Greece as soon as possible, a senior customs official said yesterday.
The issue, which has caused concern among port workers and state officials who were apparently caught unawares, emerged a few days ago after DIKO deputy Marios Matsakis revealed that the container, loaded with hazardous toxic material used for making detergents, had been dumped in the port’s storage facility for five years.
On Wednesday, Health Minister Frixos Savvides vowed to find why it had been left there, not ruling out the possibility it had been dumped by organised rings, which get paid to get rid of such material illicitly.
Yesterday, Senior Customs Official Iakovos Antoniou said that a private company had undertaken to transfer the container to Greece, where it would be destroyed in a special incinerator without any harm to the environment.
Until then, the container will be stored under a special shelter in the port.
The government will foot the bill for the transfer.
Meanwhile, Port Authority Chairman Christos Hadjimanolis said yesterday that the authority had decided to request from the court to lift the detention of a ship loaded with around 3,000 tonnes of acetylene anchored just outside the port.
Acetylene mixed with water could cause a massive explosion, experts warn.
The ship has been arrested by authorities because of financial differences.
The port authority, however, wants the arrest lifted so the ship can leave Cyprus waters and head for its original destination, India.
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.
