Sylikiotis met with jeers and threats in Ormidhia

DOZENS OF angry villagers jeered and threatened Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis during a meeting held in Larnaca yesterday to discuss the imminent construction of a solid waste depot close to the village of Ormidhia.

The depot is being built to store the household waste of entire area’s before it is transferred to a plant in Koshi for treatment.

Although the Ormidhia village council has given the green light for the facility, a number of residents are against it, citing fears for their health.

Last week, villagers blocked the path of earth-moving equipment that was to be used to prepare the site ahead of construction.

The reaction led the Interior Minister to call yesterday’s meeting of the mayors and mukhtars of the affected communities.

But on his arrival at Larnaca’s Palm Beach hotel, the venue for the meeting, Sylikiotis was greeted by an angry mob demanding an immediate halt to the project.

He was forced to run a gauntlet of verbal abuse and clenched fists as he made his way inside. Threats of “Over my dead body” and “There shall be casualties” were heard.

A bizarre scene then unfolded at the hotel entrance, where two young girls – apparently belonging to the dissenters–offered him a bouquet of flowers. A flustered Sylikiotis walked straight past.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Sylikiotis said the creation of the depot made economic sense, as the cost to the communities would amount to 16 euros per tonne, compared to 30 euros at present due to the costs of transporting the waste onto Koshi.

Sylikiotis said the decision to build the facility was backed by all the communities concerned, adding that any delays in construction would cause costs to skyrocket, as well as jeopardize the €1 million which the European Union has pledged to the government once actual construction gets underway.

The minister barely kept his cool as protesters kept haranguing him after the meeting, some of them even banging their fists on his limousine.

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