The Committee began a debate on the Waste Regulations and specifically the management of municipal waste by local government authorities.
In statements after the session, Kettiros said that they were waiting for the Regulations to be submitted to the Committee in order to define the responsibilities of local government authorities for the management of their municipal waste.
"We are concerned if, with this legislation, citizens will be burdened, initially, but given the circumstances that have arisen with accuracy,we are obliged to find ways to not allow additional burdens on consumers," he said.
"The most important thing for us is to emphasize environmental awareness and not to impose fines," he added.
He also said that it is imperative to conduct campaigns to inform citizens about the obligations arising from the implementation of this legislation.
"For AKEL, it is important to clarify the issues concerning mountainous areas , the costs that citizens will have to pay and how much support they will receive," he said.
He said they also have questions in relation to public assistance recipients and low pensioners.
These issues, he said, are of great concern to them, and they will discuss them in the next sessions when the issue will be raised.
According to Mr. Kettiro, this effort is co-financed in the solid waste sector by the Cohesion Policy Funds of the European Union, however, he said, very serious issues such as the identification of producers, issues of personal data, the cost to the citizen and the readiness of local authorities to implement this system are still pending.
He noted that they are ready to look into the issue in all seriousness and submit proposals that will not burden the citizens.
In response to a question, he said that sorting should be done at source, citing the system of the Municipality of Aglantzia as an example.
He said that solid waste should be separated[/B] so that sorting can be done at source, but this implies a cost in bags, since a separate bag would be needed for each material.
"This will burden citizens because they will have to buy the bag at a very specific cost," he said, adding that this measure does not single out either large families or low-income pensioners, or public assistance recipients.
He said that they want to give a relief to these social groups on the one hand, but on the other hand, citizens should not be burdened, especially in the circumstances at the moment, with the crisis that exists at a pan-European level and the precision to which all households are subjected.
Source: CNA
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