OUTRAGED Kaimakli residents yesterday threatened to take the Nicosia Sewerage Board to court over its decision to connect greater Nicosia to their sewerage system, which has doubled the putrid smell in the area.
The residents say the board did not inform them of its plans, which by law they have an obligation to do. They also believe the board did carry out environmental studies, despite claims to the contrary, to investigate what effects the project would have on the environment.
Around 300 residents yesterday gathered at the Bata roundabout, the area most affected, to hold a demonstration. Municipality officials, Nicosia mayor Michalakis Zampelas, Green party leader George Perdikis and AKEL deputy Stavros Evagorou all attended to hear the residents’ complaints.
Zampelas told the residents to form a committee and to meet with him to discuss the problem. He assured them “their problem” would be promoted to the appropriate authorities. The protest dispersed at around 6.30pm.
One 54-year-old resident said it was hell living near the roundabout.
“The smell is unbearable when there is an easterly wind, it’s humid or if there is no breeze at all. Particularly early in the morning or late at night, it’s nauseating and makes your eyes run as it fills your nostrils.” He said some people had even moved away from Kaimakli, unable to raise their families in an area suffocated by the stench.
But according to a Nicosia municipality booklet, published in May this year, the problem was dealt with after “the necessary corrections had been made” and the “inexcusable environmental and ecological odour at the expense of the residents has been rectified”.
The 54-year-old, who wished to remain unnamed, said the booklet had printed a blatant lie and that the residents had been furious when they’d seen it.
“If placing a machine with a filter, which is supposed to dispel the smell, means rectify, then it’s a joke. When the filter fills up, the smell is back. The machine is also noisy, so it adds more disturbance.”
Another 57-year-old resident, who likewise wished to remain unnamed, said the problem had first started to become insufferable 10-15 years ago.
“The Municipality of Nicosia, which includes the suburbs of Kaimakli, Pallouriotissa and Omorfita, started to operate a sewerage plant in the occupied areas – which is actually on the edges of occupied Kaimakli – in 1976,” he said.
An agreement was made between the Turkish Cypriot authorities, the United Nations and the government to go ahead with the project despite the 1974 invasion. It is located around two kilometres behind the SOPAZ factory. “The plant would be used by us and the Turkish Cypriots,” he said.
But by the late 80s early 90s the sewerage plant, which is made up of a series of sewer lakes supplied by a main sewerage pipe connected to the community’s sewerage system, had started to extend and, depending on weather conditions, a rancid smell enveloped Kaimakli.
“The way the sewerage plant works, more pits need to be dug so as to take on the capacity of sewerage coming in because the first pits are filled,” he said. Today the sewerage plant covers an area of 800 by 1,500 metres.
“Residents started to protest about the smell, but we were fobbed off with promises the problem would be rectified. We were told the sewerage plant, which is connected by a main duct under Kaimakli, would not take on sewerage from any other communities in greater Nicosia.”
He said municipality officials had also blamed the Turkish Cypriot side for anything that went wrong. But since the Green Line opened last year, the 57-year-old said he had met with Turkish Cypriots and learned the plant was operated under instructions from the Greek Cypriot side.
However, two to three years ago, the problem got much worse when the residents discovered the Nicosia Sewerage Board had received planning permission to connect greater Nicosia to the network.
“Now Kaimakli is a dumping ground for Aglandja, Strovolos, Ayios Dhometios and Engomi,” he said. “Those municipalities have been relieved of their sewerage problem, but in order to do so, Kaimakli’s has increased. We are now getting double and treble the capacity of sewerage travelling through the pipes and the smell seeps up through the manholes, which adds to the smell from the plant itself.”
The 57-year-old said promises had been made to upgrade and seal in the sewerage plant and to upgrade a second plant in Ayios Sozomenos.
“The plan is to use Kaimakli as a dumping area for Nicosia and greater Nicosia. Around two-thirds of the sewerage will then be shuttled to Ayios Sozomenos and one-third will go to the occupied areas. But, the problem is twofold. First, the plants have not yet been upgraded to take on the sewerage, but the sewerage from greater Nicosia has already started to overload our pipes. And second, even if we are eventually relieved of the smell from the plant, what about the pipes, which are full of decaying sewerage and give off an unbearable smell?”
The residents fear big money and business interests lie behind the project.
“Why would they go behind our back? The community was supposed to be asked about any changes and effects to the environment, but we were kept completely in the dark. We were ignored and that is inexcusable,” said the 57-year-old.
He said a newly formed committee of Kaimakli residents had plans to take the Sewerage Board to court.
“Our goal is to stop sending sewerage from other communities other than those included in the Nicosia municipality. If the courts don’t achieve anything we’ll consider blocking roads or going through the European courts. We’ll react as the situation develops. This is only the beginning,” he warned.
