NGO takes on large-scale coordinated clean-up project

The Fasoula green point area has long been known for its enormous illegal dump – until this week, when Limassol-based NGO City Friends Club (CFC) stepped in to change what the organisation rightly calls a “horrific situation”. There is at least one reason why it has not been dealt with sooner.

In 2020, Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis announced the appointment of 118 environmental waste supervisors to curb the illegal dumping of waste.

This should surely have made a difference to the amount of illegally discarded rubbish by now.

It has not, said supervising engineer at Sedal, the Limassol waste utilisation council, Kyriakos Theocharous. He went on to explain why this scheme never got off the ground.

“The appointed people were not newly recruited, but were already employed in municipalities, thus they have other duties and don’t have enough time to gather info and fine people.”

It is up to others, then, to take charge, and the newly founded City Friends Club is doing just that.

With the help of Fasoula mayor Giorgos Charalambous the members organised the big clean-up of the affected area being carried out this and next week in collaboration with Sedal, the environment department, neighbouring municipalities and volunteers.  Already, in just two days this week, around 50 tonnes of waste was collected.

Excavators owned by the municipalities removed the big items, while the NGO will support the clean-up by holding an event to collect smaller items on April 2.

“We will use our own equipment and a crane. Some of the terrain cannot be accessed by machinery and volunteers are going to collect the waste by hand,” CFC’s operation manager Natalia Mutovkina told the Sunday Mail, adding such events usually attract some 100 volunteers.

The collected waste will be taken to green points or recycled when possible, depending on what has been found.

“Once we clean up the place people will be more reluctant to throw things away. We plan to plant trees around so lorries will not be able to get to the area or put up fences,” Theocharous said. “Trees preferably, as fencing areas off everywhere is not the best solution and trees are a natural barrier.”

Nearby are both a green point, where people can dispose of garbage free of charge, and an RRC (Resource Recovery Cyprus) facility. This should encourage the public to bring waste to these places, so why are they prone to throw stuff just a few metres away, and often right next to roads?

Several reasons, Theocharous believes. “When there is already a large amount of garbage around, people think they can just add to it and it doesn’t make any difference.”

Money is an issue, he notes, as, though waste can be taken to the green point for free, it must be sorted and placed in the 15 different containers available for electronics, wood and other materials.

When items are already mixed up as is usual for things collected in rented skips, sorting is difficult and often requires special equipment – a costly affair.

Regarding the RCC where items are sorted, a permit is needed and individuals cannot just turn up. Licensed owners of trucks and skips are meant to use this facility, but are often put off by the large fee which is charged per load.

To stop individuals from illegal dumping, Sedal is looking at other possibilities, such as the installation of cameras. Currently they are looking at ways to implement this without violating personal data protection laws which do not allow filming people in public places.

Another aim of the council, which is responsible for the green points, is to start workshops with technical staff who will be able to repair electronic items, which can then be given to those in need. Though some items such as bicycles, sofas and toys are already being repaired at the green points and given to people in need, this cannot yet be done with electronics as they may be unsafe.

The CFC eco-activists, who have bought their own equipment such as modern waste management trucks, are also determined to improve matters.

“The main idea is to stop people from dumping rubbish by working with municipalities, other groups and volunteers. Collaboration is the key,” Mutovkina sums it up.

The clean-up on April 2 will start at 9am at Fasoula green point. For more info on how to participate and on other activities of the non-profit organisation:

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