North to privatise ‘fire hazard’ landfill site

The north’s ‘government’ on Wednesday night announced that it would privatise the operation of the landfill site in the village of Koutsoventis.

The north’s central tender commission said plans for the site to be privatised had been accepted, and that as such, bids can now be submitted to the ‘finance ministry’ until midday on September 4.

Information and exact specifications for bidders can be obtained from the ‘finance ministry’s’ money exchange and development fund department in exchange for a deposit of 500,000TL (€13,968) plus an unspecified amount of value added tax.

The landfill site had first been constructed in 2013 and was paid for by European Union funds. It had been designed for 30 years’ worth of storage at the time, but just 11 years on is now almost full.

In addition to the fact it is almost full, high temperatures during the summer combined with reports of waste being stored in a haphazard manner have led to numerous fires breaking out at the site.

This issue was pointed out by the north’s chamber of environmental engineers in June, with its chairwoman Sibel Paralik saying waste is being stored in an “atrocious” manner.

“Due to the failure to reduce waste, reuse, or recycle it, the landfill will be closed very soon. It has been filled already and it is approaching the end of its life,” she said.

On the prospect of fires, she said, “it has been observed that the waste dumped in the immediate vicinity of the landfill in recent months has burned together. With the arrival of summer, these fires will continue and grow exponentially.”

As a result, she called on the north’s authorities first to deal with the problem at source, by reducing the amount of waste produced, encouraging consumers to reuse materials and to recycle.

In addition, she said the ‘government’ and municipalities should allocate budgets to deal with the issue and implement longer-term plans to better manage waste.