ENVIRONMENT Commissioner Charalmbos Theopemptou is proposing that everyone gets a day off work every year and join forces to clean up the island.
Theopemptou said there are 1,000 ‘hotspots’ in Cyprus, which have been identified as needing to be cleaned up. He has proposed an initial week-long campaign titled ‘Clean up Cyprus’ this year and is waiting for the approval of President Demetris Christofias, he said.
‘This could coincide with Green week of June 5,” he added.
According to Theopemptou, Interior Ministry inspectors went out and identified 1,000 ‘hotspots’, good number of which are in Paphos.
“It will require around 10,000 truck loads to carry old cars and tyres, and remove a large volume of waste from the countryside,” Theopemptou said.
“In addition, I hope that the President will give money to start a clean-up operation of the sea floor, and also to proclaim one day a year as ‘Clean up Cyprus Day’, where no one goes to work, and we all join forces to clean up the rubbish.”
He said, “I’m waiting to hear back his official response, but I’m hopeful that my ideas will be approved.”
Theopemptou’s comments came in the wake of an oil spill, which hit the shores of Latsi last week. The oil is believed to have come from a passing ship.
A visitor to the area, Joe Murphy said he and a German tourist had seen small globules of thick oil and later they witnessed the clean-up operation but not before the oil deposits had ruined their shoes.
Pantelis Prodromou, of the Latsi fisheries department said: “The marine police and the Town Hall phoned the fisheries department in Latsi on Monday evening to inform us that there was a problem on the beach close to a campsite. I went to the area, and was there for four hours, from 5.30pm until 9.30pm. I saw the oil for myself.”
Prodromou was unsure of the origin of the oil, but said it was probably from a boat or ship. “I have only worked here for three months, and this is my first oil incident,” he said. He said he had spoken to the Mayor of Polis Chrysochous a few days before and given the municipality a special liquid to spray on the beach and rocks, and a special cloth to absorb the oil.
“We took measures to ensure it was cleaned up,” he said. Theopemptou said the sea around Cyprus was polluted “with all sorts of things” floating around in it.
“Our sewers here are designed to end up on the beach, and when I talk to divers they have told me about car tyres, batteries and tin cans they find on the seabed.”
