Cleaning up Nicosia

NICOSIA Municipality has announced plans for its annual clean-up operation, beginning today.

Running until the end of next month, the aim, according to the man in charge of the project, is to “clean up all public places for a better quality of life for all citizens.”
The Municipality’s Michalis Theodoulou explained that public tenders are offered every January for contractors to carry out the work. “The city is divided into numerous sectors with a budget of £45,000 plus VAT set aside for the work.”
Particular attention will be given to the areas within the old city, Ayios Andreas, Ayioi Omoloyites, Acropolis, Lykavitos, Pallouriotissa, Kaimakli and the area surrounding Makarios Avenue and Stasicratous Street.

He also said that the benefits, apart from the aesthetic, would be fewer rats, snakes and mosquitoes.

Mayor Michalakis Zampelas yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the project would serve Nicosia residents and cultivate awareness for a cleaner capital. “There is no respect at the moment for keeping the city clean,” he said. “We want to send a message to the public that by working together, we can achieve something. This is our slogan which we have been putting up at bus stops across Nicosia.”

He also said that the Municipality would soon be publishing a leaflet in seven different languages (English, Greek, Turkish, Sinhalese, Chinese, Indian and Arabic), “which we will distribute in the old town and in the areas of Kaimakli and Pallouriotissa, urging people to be environmentally-conscious. We need the help of both locals and foreigners.”

He also said that schools were contacted every year, with pupils asked to help out on a voluntary basis. “The Municipality is very well received by schools and we see improvements to the city every year. It’s essential to send out the message that keeping the city clean is very important from a young age, not just for us, but for our future generations.”

n For further information, please contact the Municipality on 22-797312 or 22-439345.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.