The first garbage bins have started to be set up for collectıon of waste materials at TRNC primary schools.
A joint project of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment and the Ministry of Education and Culture has been implemented in TRNC Primary Schools. The Project, with the financial contributions of the Turkish Embassy in Lefkosa, will then be implemented at Secondary and High Schools.
District Municipalities will collect garbage from the schools which is deposited in the recycling bins and then that will be collected by private companies for recycling.
The ceremony was held at Şehit Tuncer Primary School as the first stage of the Recycling Project. The Minister of Tourism and Environment, Fikri Ataoglu, The Minister of National Education and Culture, Özdemir Berova, Lefkosa Turkish Municipality, Mayor, Mehmet Harmancı, Lefkosa, Republic of Turkish Embassy, Development and Economic Cooperation Office Specialist Consultant, Nebi Çelik also participated.
ATAOĞLU
Tourism and Environment Minister, Fikri Ataoglu said that their goal is to educate adults about the environment through children, and after having included an environmental education course in the education curriculum, they now have a practical project to achieve this.
Ataoğlu addressed the children and said that; “Even the garbage that seems so simple, should be separated from other materials, and if you tell your family and friends about this you will be a success for us .”
Separate collection of plastic, metal and paper garbage should be applied throughout the country, Ataoğlu said, “We need to spread this information to all parts of the country through you.”
BEROVA
Özdemir Berova, the Minister of National Education and Culture, said that environmental protection, nature and peace play a very important role in protecting the beauty of the country, and that tourism and higher education, which are the main sector of the country, can develop even further.
Bearing in mind that they are determined to do their duties as Ministers in order to create a cleaner and more livable country, Berova said that they have placed Environmental and Ecology lessons in the training curriculum.
Berova said “I believe we can create a cleaner and more livable environment with this project,” adding that children are the greatest representatives of environmental awareness.
Berova stated that the Project will reach 15,000 students in 85 schools.
HARMANCI
Lefkosa Turkish Municipality, Mayor, Mehmet Harmancı noted that they support all recycling projects and that they also work with plastic and metal trash. Harmancı emphasized that it took 400-450 years for plastics to disappear in the natural environment, saying, “Every plastic, every paper, every living thing can live in a better environment”.
ATUN
Former Prime Minister and President of the Environmental Protection Foundation, Hakkı Atun said that environmental pollution is one of the biggest problems in the world and is a priority issue in the Parliaments of State and political parties. Recalling that the industrialists had done great damage to the world but the developed countries had started to take measures by realising it and that the TRNC had to make a decisive contribution as a civilized society, Atun noted that nature was created on the basis of recycling. Atun said, “We should now accept that life is now on this system (recycling).”
ALTAN
Şehit Tuncer Elementary School Principal, Elçin Altan said in her speech, “The first step of the school recycling project is being taken in Şehit Tuncel Primary School and we will give the first positive answer in response to this request.” Altan said they would conduct the project at the school, gathering the garbage on a proper basis, and there would be free collection by the Municipality.
This is very encouraging. Would love to see this happening for domestic waste.