Refuse trench war
Fri, Jun 26 2009 10:00 CET
Mayors whose refuse sites will have to be shut down by July 16, for not meeting the European Union’s environmental criteria, are preparing for a "trench war" with the state. At the same time mayors whose refuse sites are in order but will be forced to accept rubbish from their troubled colleagues are ready to resist. The former have not even made calculations about the cost of transporting their refuse to new sites while the latter want to charge a fee for every ton of refuse they agree to store.
The Environment Ministry claims that the July 16 deadline cannot be renegotiated with the European Commission, or deferred, and that failing to abide by it will incur sanctions for Bulgaria in September. The Ministry suspects that the turmoil is caused mainly by mayors of the biggest party in opposition, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian). The Ministry also says that municipalities should ask the Finance Ministry for subsidies and zero-interest loans to cover the additional costs of transporting refuse.
By July 16, a total of 203 refuse sites throughout Bulgaria will have to be shut down even though half the newly planned regional refuse sites are still under construction. And in some places construction works have not even started yet. This means that after July 16 about 120 municipalities will be left without places to store their rubbish. To solve the problem, the Ministry has proposed several options to municipalities. According to the Ministry’s preliminary calculations, transporting refuse will cost municipalities no more than an additional three million leva in 2009. Additional transport costs in 2010, when all refuse sites are supposed to be completed, should be roughly the same, the Ministry’s calculations say.
According to Ginka Chavdarova, chairperson of the National Association of Municipalities, however, these projections were several times lower than the actual cost of such an operation.
We won’t move refuse
According to the Ministry’s plan, Georgi Georgiev, mayor of Botevgrad town (elected on the ticket of one of the ruling parties, the National Movement for Stability and Progress), for example, will have to organise the movement of Botevgrad’s rubbish to sites in Sevlievo or Karlovo, 124km away.
Georgiev, however, said that "we will not send even a single truck to Sevlievo".
According to the Ministry’s projections, Botevgrad will increase its refuse transport costs by a mere 250 000 leva. "I don’t know how they have come up with these figures but our calculations show that sending our rubbish there will cost us another 4.5-5.5 million leva. We don’t have that kind of money and there is nowhere else we can get it from," Georgiev says.
He says that raising the annual municipal refuse tax would not solve the problem either. "Currently, people pay a tax of between 80 and 120 leva for an apartment of 120-150sq m. If we want to cover these additional expenses we need to raise the tax between four and five times. I wonder who would be so foolish as to pay it." In addition, Botevgrad had only six refuse trucks while it would need at least 16 to transport its rubbish to Sevlievo.
"We will not shut down our refuse site and we will keep on using it after July 16, otherwise things here will start smelling like they do in Sofia," he says.
Sliven mayor Yordan Lechkov (who was elected on GERB’s ticket), agrees. "We will not obey the Ministry’s decision. Bulgaria will be fined by the EC and we will pay the fines but we will not close our site. We haven’t even made calculations about additional costs because we don’t even have the technical ability to separate refuse and move it away," Lechkov says.
According to the Ministry’s plan, Sliven’s refuse should be transported to the refuse site of Harmanli (124km) or to the one in Omurtag (88km).
"Sending our rubbish to Sevlievo or Lovech will double our current costs," says Veronika Slavova from Levski municipality. It was a utopia to think that the amount of refuse could be downsized by separating it or recycling it.
"This is madness. We haven’t made any projections on transport cost because we neither have the money nor the trucks for it," says Roumen Vidov, mayor of Vidin (elected on GERB’s ticket).
He says that the July 16 deadline should be renegotiated and the construction of new refuse sites intensified. "The Ministry will blame us but it should start negotiations with the EC," Vidov says.
We won’t take refuse
"We won’t take rubbish from other municipalities, and that’s a rule," says Sevlievo mayor Yordan Stoykov (elected by a coalition, including the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party). The Ministry’s plan says that Sevlievo’s refuse site should take rubbish from another 11 municipalities. "So far we haven’t been officially informed about the plan but our refuse site is under municipal ownership and whoever wants to use it should pay a fee for every ton of refuse," he says. He says that the Ministry’s decision is scandalous and Sevlievo administration was ready to defend the interests of its citizens.
According to Zlatko Zhivkov, mayor of Montana town, storing refuse from other towns at the Montana site could bring the whole town out onto the streets in protest. "Storing rubbish from other towns at our site is an act of violence on the part of the state and this is unacceptable. We can’t afford to give other municipalities even two per cent of what our refuse site holds."
There is one formal problem in the Ministry’s plan and it is in the papers of the newly built refuse sites. They have been issued on the basis that they will only serve the municipalities that own them. According to the Ministry, however, this could easily be changed.
The Ministry also claims that if municipalities recycle and separate much of their refuse this will ease the situation. The Ministry says this could happen with the help of packaging recovery companies that could reduce rubbish levels by 30 per cent. Hence, the Ministry’s calculations and those of municipalities differ so markedly. Kiril Zdravkov, executive director of Ecopack Bulgaria company, however, was sceptical whether such a move could be implemented by July 16.
"We can help municipalities only after we know the exact amount of their refuse and its content so that we know what we need to recycle. Once we know all this we can say how much it will cost," he says. According to an agreement between the company and municipalities, this data should be provided by July 3 but Ecopack lacked the capacity for recycling their refuse.
No change of deadline
"I am convinced that the main opposition to our plan comes from mayors of GERB," says Deputy Environment Minister Chvadar Georgiev. He admit that there could be discrepancies between the calculations of the Ministry and those of municipalities but he says they could turn to the Finance Ministry for additional subsidies. The Environment Ministry could also allocate up to 300 000 leva in interest-free loans for the purchase of new equipment, he says.
According to Georgiev, the law holds municipalities responsible for not meeting the Ministry’s requirements in collecting rubbish. This means that municipalities will face sanctions. "We need to do our best to show the EC that we have taken all necessary measures to implement the EC directive, otherwise the EC could launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria in September. "The July 16 deadline cannot be renegotiated," he says.
Dnevnik daily
The Environment Ministry claims that the July 16 deadline cannot be renegotiated with the European Commission, or deferred, and that failing to abide by it will incur sanctions for Bulgaria in September. The Ministry suspects that the turmoil is caused mainly by mayors of the biggest party in opposition, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian). The Ministry also says that municipalities should ask the Finance Ministry for subsidies and zero-interest loans to cover the additional costs of transporting refuse.
By July 16, a total of 203 refuse sites throughout Bulgaria will have to be shut down even though half the newly planned regional refuse sites are still under construction. And in some places construction works have not even started yet. This means that after July 16 about 120 municipalities will be left without places to store their rubbish. To solve the problem, the Ministry has proposed several options to municipalities. According to the Ministry’s preliminary calculations, transporting refuse will cost municipalities no more than an additional three million leva in 2009. Additional transport costs in 2010, when all refuse sites are supposed to be completed, should be roughly the same, the Ministry’s calculations say.
According to Ginka Chavdarova, chairperson of the National Association of Municipalities, however, these projections were several times lower than the actual cost of such an operation.
We won’t move refuse
According to the Ministry’s plan, Georgi Georgiev, mayor of Botevgrad town (elected on the ticket of one of the ruling parties, the National Movement for Stability and Progress), for example, will have to organise the movement of Botevgrad’s rubbish to sites in Sevlievo or Karlovo, 124km away.
Georgiev, however, said that "we will not send even a single truck to Sevlievo".
According to the Ministry’s projections, Botevgrad will increase its refuse transport costs by a mere 250 000 leva. "I don’t know how they have come up with these figures but our calculations show that sending our rubbish there will cost us another 4.5-5.5 million leva. We don’t have that kind of money and there is nowhere else we can get it from," Georgiev says.
He says that raising the annual municipal refuse tax would not solve the problem either. "Currently, people pay a tax of between 80 and 120 leva for an apartment of 120-150sq m. If we want to cover these additional expenses we need to raise the tax between four and five times. I wonder who would be so foolish as to pay it." In addition, Botevgrad had only six refuse trucks while it would need at least 16 to transport its rubbish to Sevlievo.
"We will not shut down our refuse site and we will keep on using it after July 16, otherwise things here will start smelling like they do in Sofia," he says.
Sliven mayor Yordan Lechkov (who was elected on GERB’s ticket), agrees. "We will not obey the Ministry’s decision. Bulgaria will be fined by the EC and we will pay the fines but we will not close our site. We haven’t even made calculations about additional costs because we don’t even have the technical ability to separate refuse and move it away," Lechkov says.
According to the Ministry’s plan, Sliven’s refuse should be transported to the refuse site of Harmanli (124km) or to the one in Omurtag (88km).
"Sending our rubbish to Sevlievo or Lovech will double our current costs," says Veronika Slavova from Levski municipality. It was a utopia to think that the amount of refuse could be downsized by separating it or recycling it.
"This is madness. We haven’t made any projections on transport cost because we neither have the money nor the trucks for it," says Roumen Vidov, mayor of Vidin (elected on GERB’s ticket).
He says that the July 16 deadline should be renegotiated and the construction of new refuse sites intensified. "The Ministry will blame us but it should start negotiations with the EC," Vidov says.
We won’t take refuse
"We won’t take rubbish from other municipalities, and that’s a rule," says Sevlievo mayor Yordan Stoykov (elected by a coalition, including the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party). The Ministry’s plan says that Sevlievo’s refuse site should take rubbish from another 11 municipalities. "So far we haven’t been officially informed about the plan but our refuse site is under municipal ownership and whoever wants to use it should pay a fee for every ton of refuse," he says. He says that the Ministry’s decision is scandalous and Sevlievo administration was ready to defend the interests of its citizens.
According to Zlatko Zhivkov, mayor of Montana town, storing refuse from other towns at the Montana site could bring the whole town out onto the streets in protest. "Storing rubbish from other towns at our site is an act of violence on the part of the state and this is unacceptable. We can’t afford to give other municipalities even two per cent of what our refuse site holds."
There is one formal problem in the Ministry’s plan and it is in the papers of the newly built refuse sites. They have been issued on the basis that they will only serve the municipalities that own them. According to the Ministry, however, this could easily be changed.
The Ministry also claims that if municipalities recycle and separate much of their refuse this will ease the situation. The Ministry says this could happen with the help of packaging recovery companies that could reduce rubbish levels by 30 per cent. Hence, the Ministry’s calculations and those of municipalities differ so markedly. Kiril Zdravkov, executive director of Ecopack Bulgaria company, however, was sceptical whether such a move could be implemented by July 16.
"We can help municipalities only after we know the exact amount of their refuse and its content so that we know what we need to recycle. Once we know all this we can say how much it will cost," he says. According to an agreement between the company and municipalities, this data should be provided by July 3 but Ecopack lacked the capacity for recycling their refuse.
No change of deadline
"I am convinced that the main opposition to our plan comes from mayors of GERB," says Deputy Environment Minister Chvadar Georgiev. He admit that there could be discrepancies between the calculations of the Ministry and those of municipalities but he says they could turn to the Finance Ministry for additional subsidies. The Environment Ministry could also allocate up to 300 000 leva in interest-free loans for the purchase of new equipment, he says.
According to Georgiev, the law holds municipalities responsible for not meeting the Ministry’s requirements in collecting rubbish. This means that municipalities will face sanctions. "We need to do our best to show the EC that we have taken all necessary measures to implement the EC directive, otherwise the EC could launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria in September. "The July 16 deadline cannot be renegotiated," he says.
Dnevnik daily