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MoA appoints 118 inspectors in Municipalities to combat illegal littering

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The Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis announced at a press conference on Wednesday the appointment of 118 inspectors at municipalities across Cyprus in an effort to tackle the illegal dumping of waste in roads and fields.

Kadis handed over at the press conference to the president of municipalities association and Larnaca mayor Andreas Vyras the IDs of the new inspectors and the blocks for issuing fines.

“The inspectors will conduct checks within their respective municipalities at their own initiative as well as following reports from the pubic.

“The inspectors now possess more effective tools for combating the phenomenon having been granted authority to issue fines to natural persons and companies that do not comply with their instructions for proper management of their waste,” Kadis said.

This innovation, he said is a result of consultation with several Cyprus mayors and is aimed at making environmental legislation more effective.

He also reminded that 22 green areas for the disposal of waste are already in operation and the construction of 10 additional ones is being planned, together with the deployment of 8 mobile green units.

He added that collaboration with the private sector for effective management of waste is also being reinforced with the launching of 9 units to handle mixed waste and another 7 for managing pruning waste.

Municipalities Association president Andreas Vyras said that inspections will begin in the coming days and at the same time information on the relevant obligations of constituents will be disseminated to the public.

“Our primary aim is to eliminate illegal discarding of waste that distorts the landscape in public areas and invite infestation by rodents and other insects,” Vyras said.

The director of the Environment Department Costas Hadjipanayiotou said that inspector checks will target waste from product packaging (made of paper, carton, metal, plastic, glass, aluminium etc), municipal waste (tree branches, sofas, DIY products, toys, paints etc), construction and demolishing waste (bricks, tiles etc) and tyres.

Hadjipanayiotou said that offenders will be sent away with a warning initially and asked to transfer their waste to licenced premises like green areas within a set time frame.

In case of non-compliance, inspectors will issue fines of €200 for natural persons and €500 for companies. If the offence persists then inspectors will issue a new fine for twice the amount.

The ultimate measure if non-compliance persists or the fines are not paid is an on-location inspection by the Environment Department that may then recommend prosecution to the attorney general.

Pictured: The Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Costas Kadis addresses the press conference for the presentation of the role of the 118 inspectors assigned to municipalities to combat illegal dumping of waste. At the press conference, Mayors received their inspectors’ authorization cards. The Press Conference took place at Journalists’ House in Nicosia.

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