“No administrative decision will be made until the public’s worries are eased”, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Hakan Dinçyürek has said regarding the issue of giving permission to mining in Lefke.
During the meeting with the Lefke Environment Platform, Dinçyürek said that the people of Lefke should be assured that no decision will be made without taking residents’ opinion on the subject into consideration.
“We will inform the public at every step of this process and no administrative decision will be made unless the public is informed”, said Dinçyürek.
Dinçyürek also said that during his meeting with the Platform, the last couple of weeks of the application process was evaluated and that they did exchange views with the delegation from the Platform.
Kibris Postasi
In 1970 a committee formed in the Institute of Agricultural Research has studied mine dust precipitation on vegetation in Lefke. The leaves of plants in the region were analysed and the chemical analysis of the leaves were conducted by the chemical laboratory of the Agricultural Research Institute. Results showed that there were accumulation of mine dust on the leaves, and decrease in sizes of fruits and trees were observed. Colour, taste and other properties of fruits were also found to be adversely affected from mine dust.
Conclusion
Gemikonağı CMC wastes are firstly an international problem. This subject should be discussed according to international laws. According to the law, the companies are responsible from CRADLE to GRAVE for the environmental pollution that they have created. The pollution created in Cyprus endangers the East and Middle Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Greece, and Italy. Accumulation of heavy metals like arsenic and barium constitutes an important problem in East Mediterranean. The ECOBALANCE of the East Mediterranean is very important. Agriculture in this area is in danger.
Previous investigations have shown that, pollution in the area is much more severe than it is estimated. Another important subject here is long term effect of the heavy metals. Here environmental disaster is not only affecting the people living in the Lefke or Karadag Region, but also the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Research results show that there is a heavy metal pollution such as arsenic, barium, and cadmium in the East Mediterranean region. For this reason, the problem should be addressed immediately.
Lefke Avrupa Üniversitesi/Şubat 2000
