THE HOUSE European Affairs Committee yesterday vowed to adopt a £35 million proposal to combat water pollution caused by 800 industrial units.
“The pollution of surface, underground and sea water will have serious financial and practical consequences,” Committee chairman Tassos Papadopoulos of DIKO told reporters after a meeting on the matter yesterday.
Papadopoulos noted there were up to 800 industrial units causing water pollution by dumping their waste at unsuitable locations without a licence.
“This law will replace relevant existing legislation and cost a total of £35 million to the government, and the owners of the units that will have to implement anti-pollution measures,” he said.
The bill will at the same time decrease the fine for unlicensed dumping of waste or failure to follow standard waste processing procedures from £20,000 to £10,000. The new proposal also introduces a three-year prison sentence for certain offences.
Papadopoulos also spoke of a conflict of authorities between the Labour and the Agriculture ministries, both dealing with the problem of pollution.
“There is confusion about who is doing what,” he said.
The Labour Ministry licenses industries to deposit their waste at selected locations, while the Agriculture Ministry is authorised to deprive units of their licences if they don’t follow the right processing procedures.
During the Committee meeting, AKEL deputy Eleni Mavrou charged that the government was not making genuine efforts to protect the environment and bring Cyprus into line with EU demands.
“We only focus on not disturbing the little kingdoms,” Mavrou said, referring to government departments.
Papadopoulos said the government had submitted a proposal to Parliament aiming to resolve the differences between the two ministries.
“The Committee concluded today though that the proposal does not solve the problem. Therefore, we shall approve the anti-pollution bill and see how we can find a compromise solution to satisfy both ministries,” he said.
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.
