VILNIUS - Despite the protests and warnings, the decision to build a garbage dump near the Kernave cultural reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage List site, will not be changed, officials said on Aug. 10.
President Valdas Adamkus, speaking after a discussion on the controversial waste site, said the plans for the Kazokiskes dump were unavoidable.
"There are no doubts. We all agree that the dump is needed, but the problem must be solved without delay, before the dump poses a threat to the environment," the president said.
The discussion was attended by Parliamentary Speaker Arturas Paulauskas, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, culture and environment ministers, Parliament representatives, the directorate of the Kernave museum-reserve and the Lithuanian National UNESCO Commission.
Adamkus, who worked as an environmentalist in the United States for decades, said that although he trusted the dump's technical issues, he believes that the biggest problem remaining is "the human factor."
The president did express regret that the public's opinion was not taken into consideration when the site was in the blueprint stage. He even said that he had not yet heard an explanation as to why it was necessary to arrange the dump in Kazokiskes particularly.
For his part, Brazauskas said that the location of the dump had been considered for a long time, and that initial work started several years ago.
"Not in the vicinity, not near, but nine kilometers away," the prime minister stressed.
He has said on previous occasions that the area around Kazokiskes had the infrastructure required for a disposal site.
Lithuania has pledged to the EU to organize all of its dumps by 2008. There are 125 dumps in the Vilnius county alone, and there must be only one remaining by 2008, Brazauskas explained.
Some 3.6 million litas (1 million euros) have been spent on the project and its technical documentation so far, and if construction were halted, Lithuania would have to pay 1.4 million additional litas in default interest to a consulting Dutch company.
The prime minister also noted that the site was being arranged in a 20-meter quarry, with 20-meter-high pines growing around its perimeter so as not to be seen from surrounding areas.
As one regional dump is scheduled for the Vilnius area, all previous disposal sites that fail to meet EU requirements will close.
According to preliminary calculations, some 7 million tons of garbage will be amassed at the dump's site, which is approximately 500 meters from the nearest house.
From an ecohydrological point of view, the plot of land around the site belongs to the category of sensitive territories.
