IF YOU GO down to Nicosia’s old town today, you’re sure of a big surprise.
And if you set off early enough, you might even catch teams of volunteers as they finish their grand clean up of the Nicosia’s streets.
Starting at 7 am yesterday, around 45 people in two teams set to work sweeping, shovelling and clearing away litter and abandoned home goods from the Bishop’s palace to Paphos Gate.
“The streets are so clean, it’s brilliant!” said one resident from Athinon Street, near to Archbishopric. “They arrived at 9 and were sweeping up anything and everything. To see it all gone is great.”
The teams have also removed a number of long standing larger items, such as abandoned fridges and dishwashers. “The best bit is that the big unwanted items are going. These are the things that get you down when you live in the Old Town. I really hope it stays this clean.”
The first team, made up of Nicosia Municipality staff and volunteers from the American Academy, finished at 1pm yesterday after filling five trucks. The second group, made up of volunteers from a local construction company stayed out until 7pm.
By mid afternoon, the route from the OXI roundabout to Paphos Gate was immaculate, with only the occasional Municipal branded rubbish bag awaiting collection. Altogether, over 20 truckloads of rubbish and unwanted household items are expected to have been removed over the weekend.
Andreas Taliodoros, Senior Health Inspector at the Nicosia Municipality is confident that this will have a lasting impact. “When people see that the streets are clean, they won’t want to drop litter there. Before now the problem is that when people see litter in the streets, they think it is okay to drop it.”
The clean up operation has not only improved the environment, but helped to change perceptions and bring together communities. Taliodoros says that until now many people held the view that the foreign community were the untidy ones and responsible for the litter.
“A lot of people in Cyprus believe the Filipino residents in the old town are making the mess.” he said. “However, this opinion is not correct; a large group from the Philippine community are helping to clean the area and we are very glad to have them here.”
In contrast, he said Cypriot attitudes towards littering and the environment need to improve.
“Cypriots will clean their house but leave their rubbish outside in the streets. They have to learn that they need to clean up after themselves.” He added that the municipality is on hand to clear away large items; residents just need to call up to arrange collection.
Similar clean-up operations are now planned to happen four times a year, with the next one due on May 3. This time there will be fewer people involved, all under the employ of the municipality, and the whole city centre will be cleaned.
Mavrou said “With small efforts by everyone we can change the image of the city. The message we want to send is that this benefits all of us.”
- To find out more or get involved, visit http://www.nicosia.org.cy/ or call 22 439345
