According to him, the situation must be resolved by the Vilnius County Waste Management Center (VAATC), which took over control of the capital’s mixed municipal waste sorting plant.
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“It is likely that various legal processes and disputes may take place, but so far the Government is neither involved nor plans to interfere. I think we should leave it to the eight regional municipalities, the Vilnius Waste Management Center, and the operators, and hope that all disputes will not be resolved solely by political slogans, press statements, and the like. That they will have a legal path,” M. Sinkevičius told the “Delfi” portal on Friday.
“It is the responsibility of the regional waste management center to clarify matters with the former operator and the new operators. It is fundamentally important to me that this issue de-escalates, so that we do not have odors or ecological situations either in the Vilnius region or anywhere in Lithuania,” he said.
The Prime Minister, who discussed the Vilnius garbage crisis with the capital’s mayor Valdas Benkunskas on Thursday, said he sees that the situation is being resolved: “It seems that the situation is de-escalating.”
He emphasized that the Government will provide assistance to the Vilnius region if necessary.
“So far, I see that the situation is improving, but the Government and especially the Ministry of Environment will monitor the situation and are ready to help the region if such assistance is needed,” said M. Sinkevičius.
In mid-July, M. Sinkevičius said that the garbage crisis at the Vilnius waste sorting plant escalated and requires state intervention, so a meeting was held in the Government on this matter.
As BNS wrote, the garbage crisis in the Vilnius region arose due to last year’s fire at the Vilnius waste sorting plant, which has not yet resumed operations, and the Vilnius cogeneration power plant reducing waste incineration volumes.
On Wednesday, law enforcement began a pre-trial investigation into possible violations of environmental protection rules and criminal activity at the Vilnius waste sorting plant in handling regional waste.
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