New Attica regional governor cancels four major landfill tenders
The newly elected Attica regional governor on Monday canceled the tenders for four major waste disposal projects in the broader area of the Greek capital in a bid to seek alternative methods, though the decision will mean more delays in Athens’s enduring efforts to grapple with waste management.
SYRIZA’s Rena Dourou, who was elected in May and assumed office last month, decided to call off the tenders for sanitary landfills in Keratea, Grammatiko, Fyli and Ano Liosia, amid concerns that the proposed disposal methods are neither cost-efficient nor environmentally friendly. She said that the authority will relaunch the tenders under new terms after examining different disposal models that are deemed more sustainable.
These four new units are intended to improve waste management in the Greek capital after numerous failures to comply with European Union directives have led to millions of euros in fines being imposed on the cash-strapped country.
The projects were slated to receive funding worth 140 million euros from the EU-backed 2014-20 National Strategic Reference Framework. Their cancellation effectively means that these subsidies will be earmarked for other projects and that alternative funding sources will need to be found for the construction of the landfills when and if this goes ahead.
Environment Minister Yiannis Maniatis’s office declined to comment on the developments.
