INTERIOR MINISTER Neoclis Sylikiotis yesterday warned that failure to build the solid waste depot near Ormidhia village would end up costing local residents.
“This project means less cost for households, better waste management, and less environmental damage,” said Sylikiotis.
He explained that rather than have dozens of rubbish trucks going everyday to the Koshi waste disposal unit, the waste could be managed in a more unified way, transporting a greater bulk of waste in a better way using larger trucks.
The Ormidhia depot is being built to store the household waste of the entire area before it is transferred to a plant in Koshi for treatment... 1 comment

A FIRE in the Limassol district yesterday burnt some 15 hectares of wild shrubs, the fire service said.
The fire, near the village of Avdhmiou, broke out at around 4 p.m. and was brought under control some two hours later by a strong ground force aided by five water-dropping helicopters.
Fire-fighting forces remained in the area to prevent the blaze from rekindling... Read on

DOZENS OF angry villagers jeered and threatened Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis during a meeting held in Larnaca yesterday to discuss the imminent construction of a solid waste depot close to the village of Ormidhia.
The depot is being built to store the household waste of entire area’s before it is transferred to a plant in Koshi for treatment.
Although the Ormidhia village council has given the green light for the facility, a number of residents are against it, citing fears for their health.
Last week, villagers blocked the path of earth-moving equipment that was to be used to prepare the site ahead of construction.
The reaction led the Interior Minister to call yesterday’s meeting of the mayors and mukhtars of the affected communities... 1 comment

FIREFIGHTERS came out in full force yesterday to battle a blaze that threatened houses, restaurants and holiday homes between Ayios Epiphanios and Apliki in the foothills of the Troodos mountain range.
Police and the Forestry Department are investigating collected evidence which suggests the fire was started deliberately.
“The fire started a little before 3pm along the Ayios Epiphanios-Apliki road, starting from the edge of the road and expanding rapidly in dense pine forest destroying wild vegetation and crops,” said Andreas Christou, a Forestry Department spokesman... Read on

THE NUMBER of fruit bats in Cyprus has fallen by 95 per cent since 2005, leaving the species on the brink of extinction, animal rights group ARC/KIVOTOS said yesterday.
Cyprus is the only EU member state to host the fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus. Rousettus are megachiropterans – very different from all the other small insect-eating bats, and are protected by law.
“Alas,” said Kyriacos Kyriacou co-founder of ARC/KIVOTOS “the protection was on paper only, and so we are losing this irreplaceable treasure”.
He said the numbers were shocking. Between 2005 and 2009 Rousettus numbers had fallen by a dramatic 85 per cent... 5 comments

ORMIDHIA residents, for the second time, yesterday blocked the start of work to build a new waste management plant for the Famagusta area inside British base territory.
Yesterday’s was a repeat of a stand-off that took place a week ago when earth-moving equipment was brought to the area to start work.
A large number of British bases police from Dhekelia were deployed equipped with riot gear, and prompting a large number of residents, who oppose the plant, to react and block work for the second time.
The situation was diffused after the intervention of bases officials as well as the Larnaca deputy district officer who discussed the matter with the residents in the presence of MPs... Read on

A FIRE broke out in the occupied areas which quickly spread to the buffer zone, coming within metres of houses in the Ayios Dometios suburb of Nicosia yesterday.
The fire started sometime between 2pm and 2.30pm behind a Turkish Army sentry post on a hill in the Ayios Dhometios area. At around 2.50pm, local residents called the Fire Service informing them that the fire was coming towards them from over the hill.
From an abandoned National Guard observation point on Sirakosos Street in Ayios Dhometios, residents watched as strong winds helped the fire quickly spread towards the buffer zone, coming within 30 to 50 metres of a row of houses on that street... 4 comments

THE FIRE Department along with the Forestry Department joined forces to do battle with yet another fire, which broke out around lunchtime yesterday, in the area of Lefkara, near Delikipo.
According to the assistant chief of the Fire Department, Marcos Trangolas, EMAK received a message from a patrol car in the Kornos-Lefkara area, around 1.50pm alerting them of the fire close to Lefkara’s landfills. EMAK, the Game Fund and the Forestry Department were all immediately called into action.
The merciless flames raged for two hours, in which time they managed to clear three hectares of land, including some wild vegetation and rubbish.
“It seems that the source of the fire was the rubbish dump, said Trangolas.”‘There can be no doubt about that”’ he added... Read on

TEMPERS flared yesterday morning at the site for Famagusta District’s new waste management plant near Ormidhia, as villagers blocked the path of earth-moving equipment that was to be used to prepare the site ahead of construction.
Large numbers of police from the Dhekelia base reportedly closed off the site yesterday morning ahead of the machinery’s arrival, prompting a large number of villagers to gather with the intention of blocking off the approach-road.
After a tense stand-off, word was apparently passed to the contractor, and the machinery did not turn up. Both villagers and police left the site just before lunchtime... 2 comments

AROUND 260 firefighters, 54 fire engines and seven aircraft were used to fight raging fires in the Machairas forest, first on Sunday in a five-hour battle with the flames and then yesterday after the fire reignited in the forest ravines.
Further south of the island, another fire broke out between Ayios Theodoros and Maroni, destroying four hectares of land. In both cases, local residents suspect arsonists at play.
Just after midday yesterday, the fire which had burnt a square kilometre of state and private land on Sunday, broke out again in the Mouti tou Kornou area of Machairas forest... 2 comments