2024-05-12 11:23:01
A deadline of May 13, 2024 to submit written explanations before the Criminal Court of Rhodes was requested and received by the former deputy mayor for cleaning of the Municipality of Rhodes, Mr. Tsambika Kiahagia Magioglou, in the context of the preliminary examination carried out to establish any environmental offenses committed by the operation of illegal HADA in island.
The investigation was initiated from the year 2021 following a report submitted by “DODEKANISIAKI ANAKIKLOSI A.E.K.K.” (DANAEKK) COLLECTIVE SYSTEM OF ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT OF EXCAVATION AND DEMOLITION WASTE (SSED AEKK), based in Rhodes and represented at the time by Mr. Vaios Tsambikos Kalopitas and the union “Rhodes Environmental Protection Association” and legally represented by its president Mr. Dimitrios Grigoriadis.
As they stated in the report submitted in September 2021 and still current on the island of Rhodes, there is a huge environmental issue.
The uncontrolled disposal of excavating, construction and demolition waste (Excavation, Construction and Demolition Waste) from construction and earth-moving works, in improvised and illegal landfills, on the one hand results in the degradation of the natural landscape and irreparable ecological destruction, on the other hand it may be responsible for some of the natural disasters (floods and fires) that have hit the island in recent years.
As they explained, in addition to the registered and illegal HADA that are scattered on the island of Rhodes and contribute to the annual condemnation of our country by the Court of the European Union to pay fines for environmental pollution, every day we witness the maintenance, increase and creation of new wetlands within public and/or private properties, within forest and protected areas.
The above offenses are committed by persons unknown to us resulting in the creation and operation of illegal solid waste “deliberations” (bases) and the operation of improvised landfills on the island of Rhodes with the risk of causing negative effects on human health, living organisms and ecosystems (pollution ), the ecological balance, the quality of life and the health of the inhabitants, the historical and cultural heritage and the aesthetic values (degradation) but also natural disasters (fires and floods).
On the island of Rhodes, as they pointed out, there are a number of illegal landfills which, over time, are maintained, increased and populated.
In many of them there are wastes dangerous to public health such as asbestos.
They also pointed out that there is no response to the imperatives of the Environmental protection laws. Specifically, according to no. prot. 19552/15-04-2021 document of the Directorate of Dodecanese Forests, only on the island of Rhodes there are twenty-two (22) illegal landfills. These bases are constantly increasing.
Although, according to the Greek Statistical Authority, more than 100,000 tons of AEKK are produced annually on the island of Rhodes, this year only 2% of the estimated annual production of AEKK has been set aside for processing.
At the same time, according to the Regional Waste Management Plan of the South Aegean Region (KYA no. 63083/5402/2016) the estimated waste for the entire region for 2020 is 80,687 tons/year and concerns Construction & Demolition waste (excluding waste excavators).