Where is all the rubbish going to go until December?

We've run out of space! For the last three years we've been saying that we're at a dead end. Now we'll have to think of another stock phrase as we've gone even deeper into the dead end. The long meeting the Deputy Mayors had in Brussels and the ΄informal extension΄ of the deadline hasn΄t really set anyone΄s mind at rest because Lefkimmi has never agreed to the use of the facility either as a landfill or a residue landfill. On top of this the Cleansing Association has to find a solution to the riddle of where the refuse and the bales are going to be deposited over the next three months. From one end of the island to the other the roads are filled with thousands of tons of rubbish.

The Vice-President of the Cleansing Association Nikos Korakianitis spoke to Enimerosi about managing the waste until December, when they estimate that Lefkimmi residue landfill will have been given a licence. "The contractor is obliged to have completed the repair work on the damaged facilities by the end of November. In December we will receive the licence for the operation of the residue landfill - this is what the Deputy Mayors pledged in Brussels. The Committee for the completion of funded projects told us that they would 'freeze' the 4.3m Euros that we are obliged to refund and we will put the residue landfill into operation. No other meetings or discussions are planned. If the residue landfill doesn't go into operation, then the 'budgetary adjustment' will be made with the amount due from the Municipality, in other words the local residents."

Until that time where is the rubbish going to go?

"It is forbidden to deposit refuse in Temploni - the three old cells have been closed and the land has been filled. In other words, no more rubbish can be dumped there, not even 'at night'. So there is definitely a problem at this time. What has been called the 'fourth cell' in the composting area has refuse that is to be processed and baled - it is not permanent. If we see that that there is not enough space for the waste bales, the only thing we can do is extend the temporary storage space. That is why we intend to use the 4.5 stremma of charity land next to the baling area. We have submitted the plans in order to get temporary permission to prepare the area either with a plastic sheet or concrete base and store the waste bales there until they are taken to Lefkimmi."

According to what we have been told by the Deputy Mayors on their return to Corfu, the Brussels' bureaucrats are not interested in any alternative solutions because of the protests of South Corfu residents - they just want the file to close and to put 'OK' next to the word Lefkimmi...