Lymbia residents block road to waste site

LYMBIA residents were at it again yesterday, this time by blocking off access to the site of the proposed waste disposal plant.

The protesters used their cars to block the road, refusing construction vehicles entry to the site. A strong police presence was on hand and ordered the residents to remove their vehicles and open the road.

The villagers, who had arrived on the scene at around 7am, finally moved their vehicles four hours later and there was no need for police intervention.

Community leader Sophocles Savva confirmed that despite removing their cars, there were still a small number of protesters at the scene in order to guard the area.

“As a community, we will be acting within all the legal frameworks and within the constitution of the Cyprus Republic in order to stop the construction from going ahead. The decision of the community was that the plant should be moved from the proposed area,” he said yesterday.

The Larnaca Chief of Police Soteris Hadjichristofis had called on the Lymbia citizens “immediately to remove their cars and open the road”, adding that they were allowed to protest but had no right to close a public road.

The community leader warned yesterday that the village council was considering taking the case to a European court, as they did not believe that the construction company had taken into account the environmental report.

Health Minister Charis Charalambous said that this was not the case, and called on the village council to review the answers that they were sent from the Ministry as all their questions had been answered.

The row over the waste disposal plant has been ongoing for the last two months, while the government has constantly reiterated that there is no way that the proposed waste disposal will be moved, with Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis saying last week that “the plant will go ahead whether the Lymbia residents like it or not”.
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