ANGRY environmentalists say they are planning to hold a concert at the Dikomo (Dikmen) rubbish dump in the north of Nicosia in protest at the continued use of the site for disposing of 3,000 tonnes daily of household and industrial waste.
The protest comes after decades of promises to clean up the site and begin processing waste in a non-hazardous manner.
“For more than 30 years we have had to live with this foul pollution. Now we have reached the point where we are angry,” spokesman for the newly formed Environmental Platform Dogan Sahir told the Cyprus Mail.
Sahir and the 30-plus non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that make up the Environmental Platform plan to highlight the problem of air, soil and water pollution that emanate from the dump through a concert which they hope will attract up to 5,000 fellow protesters.
The concert, which Sahir believes to be the first protest of its kind, will take place at the Dikomo dump on June 5.
“We will consult the meteorological office before the concert so we can locate the stage downwind,” Sahir said, but added that both performers and the audience would be provided with gas masks in case the smell gets too overpowering.
A promotional pop music video has already been released on youtube to raise awareness of the problem. It informs viewers that around 1,500 tonnes of solid waste, and 1,500 tonnes of liquid waste are left at the dump each day. The pollution, it adds, has “poisoned the soil” to such an extent that it no longer absorbs the pollution, the result being that the pollution has entered the water table and rivers.
“We are now eating produce that is irrigated with polluted water that comes from the dump,” the video says.
Fires are another problem at Dikomo and other dumps around the north. Because of the build up of gases in the mountains of rubbish, explosions lead to spontaneous blazes which then create palls of smoke that hang over the city for days. The air pollution released, the video claims, can lead to chest complaints and even cancer.
“And this is not the full extent of the problem,” said Sahir. “There are around 100 other dumps in the north, some of them small, some of the large”.
Sahir says the authorities had long promised to do something about the Dikomo dump. “The [north] Nicosia municipality told us four years ago it was going to build a proper processing and recycling plant, but they did nothing except bring in a couple of bulldozers and move the rubbish around. It was a show and nothing else, Sahir said”. The environmentalist adds that Greek Cypriots living south of the Green line should also be aware of the problem as Dikomo and the other refuse dumps in the north “affect the whole island”.
“Pollution doesn’t stop at political boundaries,” Sahir said, adding that it is “quite possible” that ground water south of the Green Line could also be affected. Residents of both north and south Nicosia are already familiar with the clouds of foul smoke that occasionally emanates from the dump.
The June 5 concert will begin at 6pm and will feature around 20 Turkish Cypriot musical acts.
