The European Union has set the deadline of September 1 2008 for Sofia municipality to solve its refuse problems, by moving and making safe the baled refuse in the boroughs Kremikovtzi and Gara Iskur. Despite this, neither city nor state authorities have yet found a new location for the rubbish, private broadcaster bTV reported on August 15.

For three years already, baled refuse has been waiting on the temporary refuse holding-platforms in Kremikovtzi and Gara Iskur. There are about 500 000 tons of bales that are starting to disintegrate, being broken down by time and weather, with grasses and other plants growing from them.

The bales had an expiry date of three years date set on them by the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs. According to the ministry, the bales are not harmful to the local people or the environment, not even if they remain there longer.

The Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs and Sofia municipality do not hold the same opinion as to which of the two is in charge of finding a solution to the problem. According to Deputy Minister of Environment and Water Affairs Chavdar Georgiev, Sofia municipality has to have in mind that the life term of the baled refuse cannot be prolonged.

Deputy Sofia mayor in charge of environment Maria Boyadjiiska said in an interview with bTV that the Government had undertaken the engagement in front of the European Commission to provide a place and to propose variants for storing and making safe the refuse bales.

By law, Sofia municipality is in charge of solving the city’s refuse problem. According to Georgiev, the city hall has to “say what method it prefers and, correspondingly, we have to control and allow it”. But according to Boyadjiiska, Sofia municipality cannot take a decision concerning dumps that are not on the territory of Sofia municipality.

In the beginning of 2008, Sofia city council approved 20 million leva to be spent on solving the city’s refuse problems, bTV reported. Five million leva from this amount were for transporting refuse.

The contracts for safeguarding and maintenance of the temporary refuse storage platforms have also expired. Currently, Sofia municipality is working to renew them, so as to prolong the platforms’ lifespan by another year, although this is technically not legal.

The population of the neighbouring Sofia districts has been trying since 2005 to stop the bales from being stored in the vicinity of their homes. At present, the people do not believe that the city or state authorities will move the refuse bales from their neighbourhoods.

Locals have said that the stink in their area is unbearable, with the only thing that they can do being to keep their windows closed. The people have complained of bodily rashes, coughs and feelings of suffocation. But according to the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs, although the expiry of the bales has passed, they pose no danger to the population.