THE INTERIOR Ministry yesterday pledged that the construction of four state-of-the-art waste processing plants on the island would be completed by 2006 and that small uncontrolled rubbish dumps were gradually being shut down.
The Ministry’s pledge means rubbish dumps like the one situated next to the sea caves in Ayia Napa will be closed down by the end of 2005. The rubbish dump, sited by the Ayia Napa Municipality next to the Sea Caves at Cape Greco, first came to public attention when outraged tourists complained about it back in May 2002, lured by a sign promising a nature walk only to find themselves walking through the rubbish dump, gasping for air.
Former Interior Minister Andreas Panayiotou pledged the site would be closed down by 2004, but a visit by Green Party deputy George Perdikis this week showed that not only was it still operational but that the municipality was burning the rubbish.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Interior Minister Andreas Christou said that construction of four modern waste management plants – one for each district – would be completed by 2006.
“There might have been some confusion over Mr Panayiotou’s comments,” he said.
“The rubbish dumps are being closed down gradually, but I don’t think he said they would be closed down by 2004. We are currently constructing the first of the plants in Paphos, but the rubbish sites should be closed down by 2006.”
Interior Ministry official George Koullapis said all studies on the proposed areas had been completed.
“Our strategy involves the construction of four state-of-the-art waste processing plants in the Nicosia, Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos districts,” he said.
“Construction on the Paphos plant has already begun and works are expected to be completed on May 31 this year.
“All the necessary studies for the districts of Larnaca and Famagusta have been completed and we will be putting out tenders for the construction of the project after our accession to the EU in May.”
Koullapis said the plants would consist of recycling units and disposal cells, which are specially-constructed tanks in which waste matter will be buried.
“The reason we will be constructing these cells is so that we can use the biogas created by the decomposition of the material to produce energy,” he said.
“The second stage is to create a recycling centre near the area, for materials that will be separated at the rubbish site.
“We are also creating a big collection point, where a big container will collect rubbish from smaller trucks and transport it to the processing plants.
Koullapis said the Limassol plant would be constructed in the Vati area, the Nicosia plant in Kotsiatis and the Larnaca plant, which would replace the Ayia Napa dump, in Koshi.
“The whole project is estimated to cost around 130 million euros,” he said.
“The construction of these processing plants would see the end of small uncontrolled rubbish dumps, and the one in Ayia Napa will be shut down by the end of 2005, when the new plant in Koshi will be completed.”
