Source of mysterious ‘stench’ in Nicosia discovered (updated)

The source of a bad smell that has been troubling Nicosia residents in the areas of Aglandjia, Pallouriotissa and Kaimakli for the last two weeks has been located, the mayor of the first said on Tuesday.

Residents first assumed the ‘usual suspects,’ that is the Mia Milia wastewater treatment plant in the north, or one of several pig farms, Andreas Constantinou told CyBC radio.

However, the mayor said, after contacting the department of environment, which then contacted the UN, the smell was traced to a Greek Cypriot farm where the farmer was storing several tons of manure for fertilizing crops.

Later in the day, the environment department said that the results of its initial investigations have pointed to both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot farmers dumping large quantities of manure in the buffer zone.

The department said that in cooperation with the UN they have managed to identify the problem, which centred on farmers not properly mixing the manure into the soil to mask the stench.

Earlier in the day, the mayor had said this organic fertilisation method was responsible for stench, which became unbearable for the town’s residents.

“The manure should have been tilled into the soil as soon as possible and not left exposed,” the mayor said, while admitting he did not understand the particularities of farming practices.

The Aglandjia municipality has made an official announcement explaining the cause of the smell to residents and the mayor hopes the problem will be soon resolved, as it is likely simply due to the large quantity of manure this particular farmer brought in all at once.