Ministers get ready to address the press yesterday after taking part in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. Greece’s poor record on environmentally friendly waste management methods was on the agenda as the government faces the risk of costly fines if it does not close some 3,000 illegal landfills operating throughout the country. The shutdown of the illegal landfills will free up approximately 3,500 hectares of land that could be used for other purposes, and also help to upgrade the local environment, said Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos (second from right).