Campaigners call for end to pollution in industrial zones

DEMANDS are growing for Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality to end growing pollution on the city’s four industrial estates, including untreated sewage flowing down roads that are often blocked by discarded factory waste.

According to Kıbrıs, the Turkish-language sister newspaper of Cyprus Today, such problems have existed for years but are now growing to a level that could have an impact on human health.

The four industrial estates consist of one in central Lefkoşa, two in Haspolat and one in Alayköy, where the daily quoted local people saying that the biggest problem there was a lack of sewerage infrastructure.

“Since industrial activity began on the site, there has been no effort to deal with human waste which just flows down the roads,” an unnamed man said.

“To make matters worse, there is no adequate facility to deal with waste and rubbish generated by the industrial units, so it just piles up and often blocks the roads.

“The municipality established an area for disposing of such rubbish but it is just not big enough.”

Another campaigner said he was speaking for many in calling for Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality to solve the problem by organising a mass clean-up of the four industrial estates and then establishing adequate infrastructure on them including waste-disposal facilities.

ROADS in the Gelincik and Yeşilköy areas of the Karpaz have become lined with rubbish including animal carcasses, construction waste and piles of plastic that pose a serious health risk.

The problems were reported in Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs, that local people were particularly concerned about foul smells coming from the rubbish, swarms of flies and the danger of fires caused by sun shining through discarded glass bottles.

“We ask for people to think before dumping more rubbish on us,” one resident was quoted as saying.