Hasan Sarp: There is no longer any control or supervision at the Güngör waste site

Biologist and former chair of the Society of Biologists Hasan Sarp stated that the Güngör solid household waste landfill near Lefkoşa had fallen out of control and supervision. The statement came after a fire broke out at the site on the morning of September 6.

In a social media post, Sarp reminded readers that ten years ago, millions of euros had been spent on rehabilitating the old Dikmen landfill, while a new modern waste disposal complex meeting EU criteria was built in Güngör.

According to him, over the past five years the government had not invested any funds in the facility, had failed to fulfil a single one of its commitments and had left the complex to its fate.

Today, Güngör, like the Dikmen landfill before it, is burning and releasing chemicals, poisoning all of Lefkoşa, Sarp noted. According to him, the landfill is only “formally” managed by a private company — under the control of the Ministry of Interior and the supervision of the Ministry of Environment.

Sarp added that reports regularly emerge that the company is not accepting waste because it is not receiving payment. In his view, this demonstrates the problems in managing the facility.

Instead of “control” and “supervision”, the landfill built to European standards is now constantly marked by “chaos” and “fires”, Sarp believes. He described the morning fire not as an isolated or temporary incident, but as a sign of increasingly frequent fires: “Like the whole country, the Güngör landfill is smouldering from within.”