Filenews 13 September 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
The mayor of Aglantzia, Andreas Constantinou, appears deeply dissatisfied with the fact that he is not invited to the meetings and meetings held to promote the waste management system "I pay as much as I throw (PDO)" in all the other municipalities of free Cyprus, a system that has already been promoted and is the first implemented by the Municipality of Aglantzia.
In a letter sent last week to the president of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, Mayor of Larnaka Andreas Vyras, he said that he was very surprised to learn that once again the Municipality of Aglantzia is being ignored in the ongoing discussion on the "I pay as it flies (PDO) system.
As he recalls in his letter, on April 9, 2021, he sent a relevant letter to the Union of Municipalities, requesting that the Municipality of Aglantzia participates or even represents the Union of Cyprus Municipalities in the discussion of the bills in relation to the implementation of PDO systems.
This letter, as noted by the mayor of Aglantzia, remained unanswered and contacted Andreas Vyras by telephone, who told him that the Executive Committee of the Union of Municipalities, decided that the Municipality of Aglantzia, as the only municipality in Cyprus that implements a PDO system and therefore knows first hand the problem, the solutions and the advantages of the system, participate in the consultation.
"Instead – notes the mayor of Aglantzia in his letter – I have been informed, while a new meeting of the Union of Municipalities with the Department of Environment was held, on this issue and a new discussion is planned, the Municipality of Aglantzia has not been invited to submit its views and share its experiences."
Andreas Constantinou also mentions that he has a strong belief that the Municipality of Aglantzia should not be excluded from the working group for the implementation of PDO systems, precisely because it is able to help all other municipalities, due to its experience and know-how, which it has acquired through the implementation of the PDO program.
"We want to believe that the contempt of a member of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities does not hide other expediency and other motives", underlines the mayor of Aglantzia. He further states that "it is clear that at the moment when the Municipality of Aglantzia has been excluded from the discussion, any relevant decisions of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities do not bind the Municipality of Aglantzia. Finally, it calls on the Union of Municipalities "even the twelfth" to revise its stance on the whole issue that has arisen, making the Municipality of Aglantzia, a participant in the consultation and the formation of the positions of the municipalities for the "I pay as I thrwo" system.
Copies of the letter have been sent to all mayors, the ministry of agriculture, the parliamentary environment committee and the director of the Department of Environment.
