Customs hold up removal of toxic container

A CONTAINER full of potentially dangerous toxic materials has not been removed from the Limassol port because the customs department is demanding duties to be paid.

A port employee told the Sunday Mail yesterday that there had been a company willing to move the container to Greece, but it pulled out when the customs department wanted it to pay duty.

“The container is still in the port. In my opinion the customs department should forget about the duties and let the container be removed so everyone can calm down,” the port employee said.

The container has been at Limassol port since 1997, and its presence has caused concern among port workers and state officials.

The hazardous toxic material in the container is used for making detergents, and has been dumped in the port’s storage facility for five years.

The container is being stored under a special shelter, which was built to prevent any accidents, until its fate is decided.

 

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.