Factory wastewater ends up in Larnaca salt lake

By Annette Chrysostomou

THE Green Party has asked the authorities to look into pollution in the Aradippou area, where factory wastewater was dumped into a rainwater drainage and eventually ended up in the Larnaca salt lake.

Following findings published on a local website, members of the Larnaca ecologists’ district committee visited the area and found that it had turned into a cesspool.

“The conditions under which citizens of all ages live are unacceptable. Everywhere mosquitoes, flies, intense dirt and stench,” they reported.

Consequently, the green party asked the Aradippou and Larnaca municipalities, as well as the district administration, the department of the environment and the health services in Larnaca to intervene effectively.

The ecologists called on the authorities to release the details of the offenders and subject them to severe penalties. As well, they asked for an assessment of the environmental damage and the immediate restoration of the area to its former state. The cost of these measures should be borne by the transgressors, they said.

The municipality of Larnaca later published a related statement, in which it is pushing for taking legal action against two industrial plants which illegally dumped water in the industrial area of Aradippou.

“The municipality of Larnaca was informed by the public about complaints of stench from rainwater drains in the Aradippou industrial area”, it announced and added “the subject is investigated by officers of the sanitary services of the municipalities of Larnaca and Aradippou and the state environment department. On Tuesday, September 8, they found the illegal disposal of wastewater from two factories into public sewer water and took samples which were sent to an accredited laboratory for analysis.”

The municipality ended its statement saying that it will take legal action against those responsible for these factories, while the case was also reported to the police.

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