Filenews 8 April 2021
Twenty-two "green spots" are currently operating in Cyprus, including five in Paphos Province and one mobile unit, said the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Costas Kadis, adding that his Ministry's goal is to create another fourteen "green spots" (large infrastructures) in the next period, but also dozens of other smaller ones in the countryside.
Speaking as part of his tour of Paphos Province, Mr. Kadis said that what was shown by the implementation of this policy is that "we need to decentralise and get close to the citizen", noting that the closer you are to the citizen and the easier you make his life, the more efficient the collection and sorting, but also reduces what is observed in the Cypriot countryside , i.e. illegal disposal at various points.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture said that the goal of the Ministry in chief is to go to each community, to create a green corner, which will be interconnected with a way of transporting these wastes to licensed units for further management, he said.
Mr Kadis explained that 'green spots' are a very important tool, which contributes to the implementation of European policies on sorting at source.
The first project, he continued, "had been initiated by the Home Office, now we have also taken over this oversight and implementation of this policy."
He also felt that they have too much to contribute to the Green Points and they need to function properly.
On the occasion of his presence in Paphos, the Minister congratulated the Mayor and the Waste Management Council in Paphos Province because, as he said, they managed to create "green spots" that are a model for the rest of Cyprus. He also admitted that the "green spots" in Paphos function normally unlike other areas.
He also appreciated that we have to learn from the way the "green spots" worked in Paphos and at the same time expressed his readiness to discuss the expansion of the Network in Paphos and throughout Cyprus. There are already concrete plans for new "Green Spots", but also for smaller infrastructure, green corners that are essentially small "green spots", collection points, he said.
At these points, he continued, containers will be placed that collect specific streams of waste and are connected to a mobile "green spot".
These new policies, said the Minister of Agriculture "are being implemented, we are discussing them with local authorities" and he expressed confidence that in the area of waste management, Paphos and the whole of Cyprus will see better days.
Finally, he said that we will see a very different picture, because 'on the one hand we are creating infrastructure such as 'green spots', on the other hand we are improving the institutional framework a lot through a series of legislation which is currently being debated in the House of Representatives'.
Source: eyenews/CYPE
