Newsroom
You’d think that if someone were to illegally dump a load of office junk in a field, they’d at least have the foresight to remove the labels with their name on them. But no, apparently, some people like to leave a calling card.
Deputy Mayor of Geri, Neophytos Papalazarou, stumbled upon a scene of environmental crime yesterday after a citizen reported a fresh pile of discarded office furniture near the buffer zone. What did he find? Desks, chairs, shelves, notice boards, and, oh, what’s this? Box files conveniently labeled “Audit Office of the Republic.”
Yes, dear reader, in a plot twist worthy of a sitcom, the very institution responsible for financial oversight has found itself at the center of a very different kind of audit, one involving an unsanctioned landfill.
Follow the paper trail (or the box files, in this case)
A little digging (not literally) revealed that the Audit Office had recently undergone renovations as part of an energy upgrade. As part of the process, a public tender was issued to remove outdated photocopiers, office furniture, and storage files.
The lucky winner of this lucrative €892.50 contract (yes, not exactly a fortune) was a company with a solid track record with the Department of Public Works. Their task? Deliver the photocopiers to state warehouses and the furniture to a designated recycling facility.
Simple enough, right?
Well, the company did manage to drop off the photocopiers as per the contract, but the office furniture? That apparently made a scenic detour… straight into an open field.
Excuses, excuses
When confronted, the contractor reportedly shrugged and said, “Well, that’s where the field is.”
As you might have guessed, that’s not quite how legal waste disposal works. Officials swiftly reminded him that dumping waste in open spaces is, in fact, illegal. The Department of Environment is now preparing to slap him with a €20,000 fine, which makes his €892.50 payday seem laughably small in comparison.
A crisis of waste
This isn’t an isolated incident. According to Deputy Mayor Papalazarou, Geri has become an impromptu dumping ground ever since Aglantzia implemented the “Pay as You Throw” waste management scheme. Apparently, some residents (and, let’s face it, some shady contractors) have taken that to mean, “Pay nothing if you dump it in the countryside.”
So, while the Audit Office tried to tidy up its workspace, it seems it also exposed a much messier problem, one that might need a lot more than just a cleaning crew to fix.
*With information from 24News
