Students in the Mitsero area staged a walkout during the first two periods on Friday to protest plans to relocate an asphalt plant to the community, ahead of a community meeting on Friday evening and a peaceful demonstration on Sunday.
Residents are meanwhile planning further action to prevent the asphalt plant from being set up in the area, head of the Mitsero primary school parents’ association Elli Mesaritou said.
Mesaritou told the Cyprus News Agency that a meeting would be held in Mitsero on Friday evening to inform residents about the situation and discuss further action.
On Sunday at 10.30am, residents are expected to hold a peaceful demonstration outside the site where the plant is being built and temporarily block the road.
Mesaritou said the plant was being relocated from a residential area in Dhali due to public health concerns and questioned why the same sensitivity had not been shown towards Mitsero.
“Our children and fully informed about this issue. They are just asking for clear air in an area that is particularly burdened,” she said.
According to Mesaritou, there are more than 150 “nuisance” facilities in the area, including quarries and pig farms.
“Moving the asphalt factory here will be a tombstone for the area,” she said.
The issue has concerned communities in the area for six years, Mesaritou said, claiming 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. For this reason, assurances that the plant would operate under different specifications were not sufficient to allay residents’ concerns, she added.
Furthermore, Mesaritou said President Nikos Christodoulides had promised to address the issue if elected, visit the area and listen to residents.
“This never happened and works have begun,” she said.
Referring to Sunday’s demonstration, Mesaritou said the day had been chosen to minimise inconvenience to those using the road.
A previous protest saw the road closed for 20 minutes, causing disruption as it provides access to abattoirs and quarries.
“If we reach the point where we have to block roads on working days, then we will affect a lot of people and the market in general. And as they are harassing us, we will be forced to cause a disturbance as well. They give us no other choice. The struggle continues,” she said.
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