Campaign to clean up TRNC’s industrial zones

A CAMPAIGN by the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry (KTSO) to clean up the TRNC’s industrial zones began in Alayköy.

In a statement to the TRNC state-run news agency Tak, KTSO president Ali Kamacıoğlu said that the recent two-day clean up was a “collaborative effort” carried out with the contribution of Alayköy Municipality and private companies.

Mr Kamacıoğlu explained that Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Energy Minister Erhan Arıklı has allocated funds to fence off the zone after the clean-up to prevent fly-tipping.

He said that a 2 million TL budget is required for the fencing and to construct an entrance gate.

Stating that the Economy and Energy Ministry will put up 800,000TL of this amount and that the municipality will contribute according to its budget, Mr Kamacıoğlu said that, with the grants from other companies, they aim to start the fencing project soon.

Within two months, the “Alayköy Organised Industrial Zone” will be fenced off and become an “exemplary pilot zone with an entrance gate” Mr Kamacıoğlu stated.

During the cleaning campaign, weeds and non-recyclable waste were removed and the next step will be to put more rubbish bins in the area.

Mr Kamacıoğlu said that after Alayköy, clean-up campaigns will be carried out in all industrial zones including Gazimağusa and then Lefkoşa.

Industrial Department head Mustafa Yeşil thanked Mr Kamacıoğlu for his “sensitivity to such an issue” since taking the helm of the KTSO.

Mr Yeşil also thanked the companies that took part in the clean-up and Alayköy Municipality and expressed his hope that this collaboration will continue.

“Through this collaboration, industrial zones will no longer be referred to as rubbish zones,” he said.

“It is not the responsibility of the Industrial Department Directorate to clean these areas alone, nor does it have the means and ability to do so.”

Explaining that each workplace operating in the industrial zone pays “14 different taxes” to the local municipality, Mr Yeşil said that the municipality is responsible for clean-ups but cannot do this for “justified reasons” so it only collects “normal” rubbish.

He added that municipalities and the Environment Department cannot manage the “scrap pollution and large rubble waste” brought from other parts of the country and “unloaded into the area as if it were a rubbish dump”.

Mr Yeşil also emphasised the importance of raising awareness of such issues with these kinds of campaigns.