The management company of waste treatment plant (Oeda) in Pentakomo has been told to vacate the premises within 14 days, a letter from the government revealed on Monday.

The operation of the Pentakomo facility was intended to end the burying of municipal waste from the Limassol district. But now, six years on, the majority of the processed waste is ending up in landfills anyway as there are no takers for the product (the secondary fuel) produced there.

Problems between the management company, Medcon & DB Technologies JV have been ongoing with the company complaining about a total lack of cooperation from governmental agencies while also sounding the alarm about potential health hazards.

However, on Monday, the government sent the company a letter requesting them to vacate the premises and turn over all operations to the waterboard.

According to the letter the government will work with the waterboard and the development company of the Limassol district (Anelem) and the household waste management company (Sedal) to run operations at Pentakomo until a new management company is found.

In the letter, the waterboard said it will proceed with recruiting a consultant for the preparation of tender documents for the operation of the unit as it is currently, as well as its upgrade in accordance with what is defined in the Municipal Waste Management Plan 2022-2028, for a period of at least 10 years.

The operation of the Pentakomo plant has been described as a fiasco. Initially the facility was supposed to generate Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF).

But the technology for the plant was changed after the contract had been awarded – in what was said to be a blatant irregularity. The mechanical biological treatment of municipal waste stipulated in the tender specs was replaced by what is known as anaerobic biological treatment.

This treatment technique could not produce SRF as the project specs had stipulated, but produces Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) which has a high moisture content and a low calorific value that renders it a poor alternative source of fuel. With no takers for the RDF, the Pentakomo plant has been burying all the treated waste, engaging in the practice it was set up to end.