The chairman of the Sofia Municipal Council, Tsvetomir Petrov, has called an extraordinary session of the city parliament over Sofia's garbage, Nova TV reports. The mayor and two ministers - of health and of environment and water - are expected to be heard at it.
We recall that Vasil Terziev ordered a halt to the acceptance of any waste from hospitals at the garbage processing plant. The reason - during an inspection, a truck with biological waste that should not be deposited there, mixed with household waste, was detected. Inspectors found four bags containing dangerous medical devices, including syringes.
The Sofia Inspectorate reacted immediately, issuing acts to both the medical institution from which the waste originated (which categorically denied any violations) and the company carrying out the transportation. Fines for the violations found can reach 50,000 leva.
The political reaction after Terziev's decision
Mayor Terziev's decision caused an immediate and sharp political reaction. The Chairman of the Health Committee in Parliament and a GERB-SDF MP, Prof. Kostadin Angelov warns that the suspension of hospital waste acceptance creates a real danger of an epidemic crisis in Sofia within hours.
The response of the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW)
The Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) announced that the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Sofia has taken action and has begun an inspection of the landfill. The department emphasized that the responsibility for controlling the accepted waste lies entirely with the operator, who is obliged to carry out a thorough
visual inspection and refuse to accept non-compliant waste.
The MOEW stated that during inspections carried out so far in the hospitals themselves, no cases of mixing of household and biological waste have been found, and hazardous waste is stored separately in specialized containers.
How did the Minister of Health react
The Minister of Health Assoc. Prof. Silvi Kirilov was surprised by the decision of the Sofia Municipality, defining it as a "huge danger of an epidemic". He stressed that the Ministry of Health should not be involved in political disputes at the local level. The minister announced the creation of an interdepartmental working group.
Sharp criticism from the Chief State Health Inspector
The Chief State Health Inspector Assoc. Prof. Angel Kunchev also did not approve of the mayor's actions, defining them as "a strange attempt to solve an organizational, political or economic problem by creating an even greater risk to public health". He emphasized that control over the acceptance of waste is the responsibility of the enterprise itself.
RHI: Constant control in hospitals
The Regional Health Inspectorate in Sofia explained that they carry out daily control over the generation and storage of waste in hospitals until the moment of its removal. Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of inspections have been carried out in medical facilities and so far no violations have been found.