Lefke Environment and Promotion Association stated that there is no policy of the state in garbage management and said, “Serious solutions regarding garbage management should be included for all regions, instead of adding mining-related items to government programs, especially for the Lefke region.”
In a written statement on behalf of the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Association, Ahmet Hızlı, stated that the people of the region and the villages of Southern Cyprus close to the Lefke region were also affected due to the fire that broke out in the landfill area of Lefke district in the past months.
Although it is not correct to make an estimation of what the smoke from the fires in the landfills contains without an analysis. Fast, who stated that they believed that it had a great effect in every way due to its smell, said, “The fact that the garbage area belonging to the Lefke municipality is located in the mine area containing heavy metals reveals another problem.
Previously, garbage, sewerage wastewater, Gemikonağı stream, was pouring into the hills near the EUL and in various other places.
Although the Lefke dump site was built in the wrong place, at least many places were prevented from being polluted. We would like to reiterate that the current location of the Lefke dump is also absolutely wrong.
It is also necessary to question why the authorities that approved this at that time gave approval to a region close to the settlement,” he said.
There should be a state policy to ensure that necessary measures are taken without reclamation, management, separation of garbage at home, reuse of decomposed garbage, composting or wild storage in landfills.
Municipalities should also comply with this, and in this process and at all times, it should be ensured that the entrance and exit to the landfills are controlled and protected.
Hızlı stated that the fire that broke out in the garbage dump of different municipalities in recent months, like the fires in the garbage dump of the municipality of Lefke, and even in the Güngör dump, which is a European Union project, clearly shows that the state has no policy regarding dumpster management.
“While this is the case, instead of adding mining-related items to government programs, especially for the Lefke region, serious solutions regarding dumpster management should be included.
Two European Union projects that our association had prepared by experts on the sorting of garbage at home and the other in the landfill, in the past years, or if our application this year had been accepted, the rate of garbage going to the landfill of Lefke district today and in the future is much lower, separated and recycled.
While the garbage to be sent would prevent pollution, cleaner investments could be made with the income to be obtained from recycling, and even a sustainable service could be provided to the public by making compost.
To stop the garbage fires in different regions and Lefke these days, reducing the amount of garbage coming to the dump will not prevent fires in the dump.
The causes of the fire were not investigated by experts, although they were investigated, no official statement was made.
First of all, what needs to be done urgently is to abandon the wild storage model and for this, the state should provide the support that will be needed to all municipalities.
The wild landfill system should be abandoned immediately in the landfills, and for this, a project should be made urgently and implemented in a very short time in order for the state to support all municipalities.”