Gaps in the control procedure of the payment of the environmental fee during the import and circulation of tyres in the Cypriot market, were found by the Audit Committee of the Parliament today, during the presentation of the report of the Audit Service.
During the discussion, it was established that the problem is directly related to the contracts of the companies that took over the management of the Limassol port, which are not obliged to control the environmental fee before releasing the tyre loads to the market.
The report, prepared in the framework of environmental audits by the Audit Service, highlighted both the problem of incomplete registration of tyres and collection of the environmental fee at Limassol port, the problem of illegal dumping of tyres in inappropriate places, as well as issues related to the management of tyres by the Vasilikos cement plant (which has undertaken to use them for energy production).
The representatives of the two collective tyre management systems, which are responsible for the transport of tyres to the Vasilikos cement plant, in their statements at the meeting, agreed that the big problem is the lack of control of the environmental fee at the Limassol port.
As they explained, 65% of the tyres come from third countries, so the shipments are subject to customs control and the payment of the environmental fee is checked there before they are put on the market. In contrast, they said, for 35% of tyres coming from EU member states, the managing companies are not obliged to check the payment of the environmental fee (according to the contract with the Ministry of Transport) and this creates a gap in the management of the tyres, as they cannot be taken to the cement plant for management.
The Chairman of the Committee and DIKO MP, Zacharias Koulias, stressed that in a period of one month the possibility of controlling imports from EU countries should be considered, through the import manifest (manifesto), in which the type of cargo is indicated, since it is available to all organizations and services through the system of the Ports Authority. "There is a need," he said, "for the establishment of a specialised control mechanism by the Department of Environment" for this purpose. She also noted that it would be good to find alternative ways of managing tyres, apart from using them at the Vasilikos cement plant for energy production.
DISY MP Rita Theodorou Superman said that the Environment Department has scientifically trained staff, who "exaggerate themselves, but they need support because the department is understaffed." He concluded that once a problem had been identified, a way should be found to solve it.
AKEL MP Kostas Kostas stressed that the Ministry of Transport, which signed the contract with the managing companies at the Limassol port, leaving gaps in the control of tyre loads, should take a stand on the issue. "We have heard that at least €100,000 a year is lost, that is half a million in the five years of the contract's validity, but no one's ear is sweating," he said.
He added that there is also a great ecological disaster, as those who evade the environmental fee dump old tyres in the countryside, creating illegal rubbish dumps. He argued that the issue could be settled by amending the law so that the managing companies, as well as the Port Authority, would be obliged to check the cargoes for the collection of an environmental fee.
In statements after the committee's meeting, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou recalled that the Legal Service had made it clear from the beginning that the contracts signed for the management of the Limassol port by private companies had not been checked and had elements that were against the public interest.
"One such element," he said, "is the fact that the contracts did not include a clause to ensure that the payment of an environmental fee was checked before the tyres were put on the market." In conclusion, he said that the omission was detected since January 2017 and that in those 5 years a check valve should have been found by the Ministry of Transport.
Ecologist MP, Haralambos Theopeptou, described the contract with the companies at the Limassol port as tragic. He noted that a second tire management company needs to be found, in addition to Vasilikos, and gave the example of companies interested in producing fuel through pyrolysis. He also raised the issue of operating a state burner for such purposes.[/P]Additional costs for the state due to "unreliable tyre transport company"
Particular reference was made to the problem created by the state's cooperation with the company Envirotrans for the transport of a cargo of tyres that Vasiliko was unable to manage to the Laturos quarry site.
As stated by the Environment Department official, Chrystalla Nisiotou, "the company proved to be unreliable", since tyres were found at the site that did not correspond to coupons (proof of the environmental fee), which raises suspicions that the company transported there tyres that were not included in the agreement.
"The competent authority undertook to remove the problem and demand the amount from the person responsible, which was done," Ms Nisiotou explained, adding that the state paid the cost of moving the tyres from the quarry to Vasilikos. For this reason, the state took the company to court. However, according to the Superintendent of State Guarantees, if this amount is not recovered, it will constitute illegal state aid.
On behalf of the Vasilikos cement plant, George Savva argued that the stock of tyres that have not yet been managed also resulted from the accumulation of material from the Laturos quarry and will take some years to be eliminated.
For its part, the Audit Office recommended, in order to deal with the problem of the accumulation of tyre stock, that the fee should not be paid in advance to the Vasilikos cement works, but that part of it should be retained until the completion of the management. Characteristically, the Auditor General stated that "the problem is that the person responsible is paid for what he has to do before he does it."
The Audit Office noted that for the tyres in stock at the cement works, the company received a management fee of half a million euros without having proceeded with their management, which, it said, could also pose risks. "We are concerned about the huge amount accumulated," said the spokesman for the service, "given that fires are occurring," and added that the fee for tires that may be accidentally burned should be refunded.
As the Audit Office pointed out, the environmental fee is an amount that is passed on to the consumer, through the purchase cost of the tires, and ranges from €0.80 to €48, depending on the size.
Source: KYPE
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