Garbage delivery to avoid fines

Memorandum rhythms until the end of the year for the shutdown of illegal landfills after Saturday’s invasion in Keratea

Behind the “fires” in Keratea caused by the government’s decision to burst into the area of the new landfill and begin work, is the (delayed) political will to stop messing around and get serious on the garbage issue.

Last Saturday, while the contractor accompanied by MAT squads had seized the site and the war was on with the locals, the ministries of Interior and Environment were proudly announcing work commencement for the construction of the Area for Sanitary Garbage Burial (XYTΥ) and a new timetable for sealing the illegal landfills, the 3rd one in the last few months.

According to the announcement, all action must be stopped in 96 Areas of Uncontrollable Waste Disposal (HADA) by the 31st of December, 18 in the 1st trimester of 2011 and 63 in the first half of the year. Especially for Peloponnisos, which faces the biggest problem, the termination of all 75 sites is scheduled to have been completed by September 2011.

These actions, already severely delayed by the elections, are now prevented by the changes of Kallikratis in the structure of local administratiion. So it’s plan B for Theodoros Pagkalos and the relevant ministerial committee, because the new bodies for solid waste management that will be set up by prefecture will take some time until they start working. The reason is that they’re up to their necks with the garbage issue and of course they fear the upcoming penalties from Brussels for the 250+ uncontrollable landfills.

The new initiatives, once again temporary solutions until the completion of the regional planning (mixed waste treatment plants, organic composting units, centers for sorting recyclables and the central and local transfer stations), bear the signatures of all co-responsible ministers (Ragousis, Birbili, Reppas) and will be accompanied by a new amendment in the way of the Memorandum, which is expected to be voted on by the end of the month.

 
The Regions will be responsible

According to this regulation, the Regions are the operators responsible for waste management until the regional associations are set up. Meanwhile, the fines are transferred to the municipalities with working landfills, waste removal from one Region to another (with a fee), which aims at solving issues of waste management when there are no viable alternative solutions except HADA, even waste transportation by boat for problematic islands.

The government has issued many orders to the Regions to adhere by the law and shut down all illegal and uncontrollable landfills, develop studies for their rehabilitation and commence work towards proper disposal units, which have been swamped.

Attica is a loud example, lately drowning in garbage with areas that have not seen a garbage truck for 15 days. The only landfill in Fili is underactive due to the lack of contracted workers, and is at the mercy of partisan considerations.

The situation is even worse in Peloponnisos, which produces 300,000 tons of garbage each year, with ridiculous attempts to solve this problem.

A few days ago, the outgoing regional commissioner of Peloponnisos Fotis Chatzimichalis presented the new Regional Plan for Waste Management, which divides the region into three geographic management units. Korinthia, Argolida and the municipalities of Tripoli, North and South Kinouria are in the first one, Messinia and the municipalities of Gortynia and Megalopoli in the second, while the third one contains only the prefecture of Lakonia.   

The revised PESDA provides for three complete facilities of waste management, with waste treatment units and XYTY per geographic management section, the location of which will be known shortly.