Speaking about "golden garbage", he stated that at the moment every ton of garbage from Sotira to Lympia costs the City Hall 172 euros, of which 83 are the charge of the Lympia landfill. He also said that the goal of the joint committee of the municipalities in the two provinces is to involve all the deputies who come from them in this huge issue. Also, through these deputies, the discussion of the problem as soon as possible will be sought in the Committee of Interior of the Parliament, while contact will be sought with the Minister of Interior Eleni Mavrou.
Confirming the negatives seen last summer by the former mayors of Paralimni and Aradippou, Andreas Evangelou and Christakis Liperis, who were the first to complain that the cost of the landfill "will go bankrupt and close municipalities", the local authorities in the two provinces proceed in an organized manner to the Government and the Parliament.
As the mayor of Aradippou, Evangelos Evangelidis, revealed to "FILELEFTHEROS", within days a joint committee of mayors from the two provinces will have a meeting with the management of the landfill, asking for information and explanations for the cost estimate of the Organization, based on which At the same time, however, according to well-informed sources of "FILELEFTHEROS", two separate aspects will be raised, which were taken into account and denounced by A. Evangelou and Chr. Λιπέρης. That is, the issue of the end of the Landfill Management Body, but also the issue of VAT which was reduced by the government from 15% to 5%, but the reduction was neither seen nor benefited by the municipalities and the people who pay fees σκυβάλων.
Stressing that the issue is urgent and critical as it will destroy with mathematical precision the municipalities and the councils of two provinces, Mr. Evangelidis stated that in his own municipality the substantial damage to the finances, from the cost of the landfill, rose from the day it operated the factory in Lympia, at almost two million euros. In recent months alone, he continued, "we have withdrawn 850.000 euros from our coffers, while the 2 million we normally paid should have been spent for other purposes, since we were forced to pay them, because the income from the taxation of the citizens was not enough. ».
On the same subject, the mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Louroutziatis, stated that in addition to the garbage tax paid by the municipality to the landfill from the day of its operation for the garbage it handed over, it had to put [its hand deep in its pocket, paying another three- and million due to the very high, unbearable charges of the Agency. Money, he pointed out, which logically had to be used productively, for the benefit of Larnaca and its citizens. We are moving forward soon, continued Mr. Louroutziatis, in matters of recycling, composting of waste and waste, but again these measures can not solve the problem. Concluding, he stated that he intends to suggest to the joint committee of the municipalities, which will be set up in a body today, Monday, to demand from the government, the extension of the repayment contract of the project to the contractor by the government, through the collection fees for receiving garbage, paid by the municipalities. Such a development, said Mr. Louroutziatis, would allow the reduction of fees, the reduction of garbage tax to the citizens and the relief of the popular mass in times of intense economic crisis and plague of unemployment.
In the flagship of tourism, Ayia Napa, with the large numbers of tourists in the summer season, the increased revenues of the municipality have been declining for almost two years now due to the cost of the landfill. In the municipality with the few inhabitants and the many tourists, the town hall pays at least one million euros a year for the transportation of garbage, in addition to the taxes collected by the citizens.
So far processes
Their first meeting for the serious financial problems they face due to the operation of the landfill (Landfill), had at the Municipal Palace of Aradippou all the mayors of Larnaca and Famagusta, last week.
The aim of the meeting was to coordinate the action of the municipalities to address the problem which on the one hand has caused unbearable financial burdens and debts of millions in the municipalities of the two provinces and on the other hand has created conditions of unequal treatment against other municipalities and areas not included in the landfill.
As it was said at the meeting, while for the other municipalities the cost, but also the garbage charges for each house range between 130 and 150 euros, for the areas that have joined the landfill the cost is double. A large part of this amount is currently borne by the municipalities, since according to legislation they can not impose on citizens increases of more than 14% per year. However, as mentioned in the meeting, even if the legislation allowed it, it would be impossible in the current economic conditions for the municipalities to charge their citizens with such high fees, while others will continue to pay half.
Pampos Vassilas