To the question, by Filenews, why the Union of Municipalities welcomes the vote against the bill and the regulations that provided for the imposition of a Municipal Waste Landfill Tax and which would bring the Local Authorities €23 million the president of the Union of Municipalities, Andreas Vyras, explains that: The Local Authorities may have received €23 million. But at the same time they would charge the citizens with €40 million. And he wondered why this should happen, especially when the appropriate waste management units have not been created.
''The money we will collect from the citizens will be much more than what we lose'', said Mr. Vyras.
The president of the Union of Municipalities stated that the Municipalities are also concerned about another parameter which concerns who will pay about €160-€170 million in order to upgrade the units of Koshi and Pentakomo, in the sense that if the state does not bear the cost, then the citizens will be asked to pay it.
Mr. Vyras observed that if the cost is borne by the Provincial Local Government Organizations, the citizens will be burdened with €150-€200 in addition to the current charges and this is due to the long-term weaknesses of the state.
Asked about this by Filenews, the president of the Union of Municipalities said that when the Department of Environment was asked about it, the answer was that it has not yet been decided who will spend the money.
Mr. Vyras stated that the Union of Municipalities, concerned about this aspect, sent a relevant letter to the competent services, but so far has not received a response.
Meanwhile, the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, in a statement, welcomes the "responsible attitude" shown by the majority of the House of Representatives, voting against the bill and the regulations that provided for the imposition of a Landfill Tax on Municipal Waste.
The announcement states that the decision vindicates the documented and persistent interventions of the Union of Municipalities in recent days, with which we had pointed out that the Local Government and the citizens cannot bear the cost of the long-standing weaknesses of the state to create the necessary infrastructure and conditions for the effective management of waste".
Furthermore, the Association of Municipalities emphasizes that it fully supports the achievement of national and European environmental goals and the transition to the circular economy. It notes, however, that the achievement of these goals requires integrated planning, adequate infrastructure, substantial cooperation of all stakeholders and a fair distribution of responsibilities and cannot be achieved through the transfer of the cost to the citizens for omissions that do not belong to them.
