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- Ελληνικά
Once again, AKEL, on the occasion of the fire that broke out at a storage site for waste tyres in the Vasilikos area, attacks the government in a flattening manner, seeking, with yesterday's announcement, to nullify its work in relation to integrated waste management.
It is with great regret that we are forced, once again, to remind AKEL and the Cypriot people that the Republic of Cyprus, in 2009, under the AKEL government, was condemned by the European Court of Justice for maintaining inappropriate landfills in operation, contrary to the provisions of the relevant European directives, which the opposition party invokes in its statement. We also recall that it is the present government that closed these landfills and systematically started the process of their rehabilitation, fully removing the inefficiencies inherited from the past.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment has recently prepared, with the assistance of the European Commission, the new strategy for the management of municipal waste, in accordance with the objectives set by the European Union and concerning Cyprus. The strategy, which will soon be approved by the Council of Ministers, includes a number of measures, most of which have already been costed and included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Cyprus Tomorrow Programme, as well as in projects to be covered by the European Union's structural funds. Thus, with an organised plan, Cyprus is now firmly on its new path towards the circular economy.
Legislation has also been submitted to the House of Representatives, which, among other things, promotes the sorting of waste at source, so that the materials collected will be managed through processes that operate within the framework of the circular economy, while creating new jobs. We would like to see AKEL promote the adoption of these laws with the same zeal with which it attacks the Government.
With regard to environmental issues in general, the Anastasiades administration, identifying the need to strengthen the institutional framework governing them, proceeded to create a General Directorate for the Environment, which will include a special Department of Environmental Controls. The Government also proceeded to substantially strengthen the Department of Environment with new staff in order to carry out its mission more effectively. In contrast, the AKEL government, in 2012, cut 24 posts from the Environment Department, at a very critical time to address the environmental challenges that Cyprus had to deal with at that time.
Regarding the specific incident in the Vasilikos area, the Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment has already requested the Environment Department to prepare a factual report and, depending on the findings of the Fire Service, the possibility of conducting an administrative investigation to establish the circumstances under which the fire broke out and spread will be considered.
In conclusion, the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment expects AKEL, instead of sterile and nihilistic criticism, to submit constructive suggestions, which the Ministry has proven many times that it takes seriously into account in the formulation of its policies.
(MG/EHR)
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