First photos of the waste bales at Lefkimmi landfill

According to the licence granted by the Decentralised Administration, the bales are being 'stored temporarily' until the facility has been granted a licence to operate as a landfill. The waste bales have been transferred to Lefkimmi from the Temploni landfill, which had been oversaturated - resulting in the whole of the island being 'buried' under rubbish.

As the government had rejected the solution of shipping the waste off the island, it was decided to transfer the waste bales to Mesorahia, Lefkimmi with the support of the riot police (MAT) - and with vehement opposition from the residents of South Corfu. Incidents at the protest rallies led to police injuries and arrests.

Nobody can approach the facility

There remains a strong police presence and access to the Lefkimmi facility is strictly prohibited except for the contractor. The waste bales that can be seen in the photo started being dumped in the area early on Thursday morning and there have been convoys of lorries carrying the bales from Temploni landfill.

According to information, the bales at Temploni that had 'burst' - photos of which had been widely circulated on the internet - were securely wrapped so that they could be transported to Lefkimmi and dumped there.

Residents are concerned

Meanwhile, residents of South Corfu are concerned that, apart from the bales, rubbish is also being dumped.

The Vice President of the Lefkimmi Cultural Society, Yiannis Pandis, posted on social media that they had requested to inspect the area but the local authority refused.

The Society is planning to visit the Prosecutor on Monday.