Green Dot hails restrictions on Kotsiatis dumping

GREEN DOT General Director Kyirakos Parpounas yesterday expressed his satisfaction over the move by Nicosia Municipality to ban the dumping of a long list of materials at Kotsiatis refuse dump.

Parpounas, blasted the waste management practice in Cyprus claiming that environmental and financial risks are involved in allowing uncontrolled dumping, while waste management remains expensive.

“This move is a great development. Until now any heroic efforts to enforce legislation on the correct management of certain categories of waste had to fight with the uncontrolled and all-devouring dumping grounds are at least 115 in number,” said Parpounas.

“And this battle was an unequal one because dumping at refuse dumps was done and is done almost for free, while the correct management of materials costs. What is more tragic is that the uncontrolled use of dumping grounds was not in actuality a cheap solution but a cosmetic cheap solution,” he added.

The dumping restriction applied to Kotsiatis refers to the following material: liquid waste, explosives, corrosives, oxidants, inflammables, hospital, medical and veterinary waste, used tires, electronic and electrical equipment, batteries and packaging waste, plastic bottles, metal containers, tetrapak, paper and glass. The relevant Nicosia Municipality announcement also states that non-compliance will be punishable with fines.

According to Parpounas the announcement was a step forward for waste management, but also in alleviating the hidden costs in uncontrolled rubbish dumping. “Who has taken into consideration the cost of the reduction in land value from the presence of refuse dumps in the area? Who has considered the loss of tourism from our undervalued environment? The reduction in the quality of water we drink and the air that we breathe? The consequences of the frequent fires at dumping grounds and the toxic gases emitted? The cost of care for diseases related to rubbish dumpng? How can you estimate the cost of the loss of quality of life?” he asked.

Parpounas also expressed the hope that Limassol Municipality will follow Nicosia’s example and restrict the type of waste dumped at Vati.

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.