Licensed sewage and septic tank operators from Limassol staged a protest outside the presidential palace on Thursday, urging the government to designate a legal disposal site for wastewater and warning they will continue strike action if no solution is found.
Around 10 sewage tankers gathered outside the presidential palace before a delegation met deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou to present their demands. During the meeting, Antoniou also held a telephone conversation with Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
The operators say the lack of adequate disposal facilities in Limassol has made it increasingly difficult for them to carry out their work, creating risks for public health and the environment.
They also appealed to President Nikos Christodoulides to intervene personally, arguing that the issue affects not only their profession but also businesses, tourism and residents across the district.
Speaking during the protest, association vice-president Ambrosios Constantinou said Limassol was facing a serious shortage of facilities for disposing of sewage.
He claimed homes had experienced sewage overflows, creating sanitation concerns, and called on the government to reopen an older disposal site until problems at the biological treatment plant are resolved.
Association member Kostakis Karapateas said operators had exhausted all avenues of dialogue with the authorities.
“Our request is simple,” he said. “The competent government departments must immediately designate a legal disposal site so that we can continue working.”
He said Limassol generates around 600 cubic metres of sewage each day, rising to as much as 900 cubic metres during the summer months, while the current treatment capacity is insufficient to meet demand.
According to Karapateas, tanker drivers are often forced to wait for hours to unload a single load before being told the treatment plant can no longer accept additional wastewater, disrupting services to various premises.
He argued that the problem stemmed from years of inadequate infrastructure rather than the actions of the operators themselves.
The sewage and septic tank operators said they were not seeking financial assistance but sufficient infrastructure to allow wastewater to be disposed of legally and safely in line with Cypriot and European legislation.
They warned that unless a workable solution is found, their strike action will continue.
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