Mitsero students stage walkout over asphalt plant relocation

Mitsero, Cyprus. Students in the Mitsero area staged a walkout during the first two school periods on Friday to protest plans to relocate an asphalt plant to the community. The action came ahead of a community meeting on Friday evening and a peaceful demonstration planned for Sunday.

Residents plan further action

Elli Mesaritou, head of the Mitsero primary school parents’ association, told the Cyprus News Agency that residents were planning further action to prevent the plant from being established in the area.

She said Friday evening’s meeting in Mitsero would inform residents about the situation and provide an opportunity to discuss further action.

Residents are expected to hold a peaceful demonstration at 10.30am on Sunday outside the site where the plant is being built and temporarily block the road.

Concerns over health and existing facilities

Mesaritou said the plant was being relocated from a residential area in Dhali because of public health concerns. She questioned why the same consideration had not been shown towards Mitsero.

She said children were fully informed about the issue and were asking for clean air in an area already facing a considerable environmental burden.

According to Mesaritou, the area has more than 150 “nuisance” facilities, including quarries and pig farms.

“Moving the asphalt factory here will be a tombstone for the area,” she said.

Questions over procedures and emissions

Mesaritou said the issue had concerned communities in the area for six years. She alleged that proper procedures had not been followed, residents had not been adequately informed and they had not been invited to participate in discussions.

She cited studies which, she said, showed that pollutants could escape into the atmosphere from the plant’s chimneys and other parts of the facility. Assurances that the plant would operate under different specifications were therefore insufficient to allay residents’ concerns, she added.