Strovolos builders told to clean up

CLEAN the air by cleaning up your act: is the message that has been sent to building contractors by the municipality of Strovolos.

With the capital increasingly resembling one big contiguous construction site, the municipality has taken an initiative aimed at improving air quality for its residents.

At a meeting last week with private contractors and building crews, attended by Air Quality Assurance officers of the Work Inspection Department (Ministry of Labour), Strovolos mayor Savvas Iliofotou has laid down the law with regard to the management of debris from construction sites.

Some of the measures agreed at the meeting are: work sites must have a water tank and pump capable of producing water droplets dense enough to absorb dust particles; all earthen debris must be immediately removed from the site once work is finished; and any remaining debris must be properly covered to avoid the scattering of dust in the atmosphere.

According to mayor Iliofotou, the concerned parties agreed also on an important policy change: from now on, it is no longer the municipality’s responsibility to fill up trenches. Rather, it will be up to private contractors and/or public utility authorities to replace the asphalt on dug-up roads. A four-month grace period will be given so as to allow building contracts to be adjusted to these new requirements.

Other planned measures include the surfacing of all parking lots, a ban on singeing trimmed tree branches, while farmers are advised to refrain from ploughing their fields when the winds are strong so as to prevent the transport of dust to built-up areas.

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