site.bta4,600 Illegal Landfill Reports Submitted by Political Parties since January

Minister of Environment and Water Manol Genov said that since the start of the year, 5,094 reports of illegal landfills have been filed, 4,600 of which were submitted by political parties, in a television interview on Friday. He added that immediate inspections are launched in response to reports, despite the limited resources of the Regional Environment and Water Inspectorate.

Genov said that approximately 70% of all reports have been processed, with orders issued and compliance monitored. If an order is fulfilled, the report is closed; if not, an act for an administrative violation is issued. Genov noted that more than 60 acts have been issued since the beginning of the year.

He emphasized that the responsibility for removing landfills lies with municipal mayors, who in turn claim they have limited powers and resources. Genov added that legislative amendments are planned to expand their authority and give them the opportunity to install video surveillance, which could also be used for sanctioning offenders. Genov said a working group dedicated to the issue would be established.

Genov also said that illegal landfills have existed for many years, and that waste should not be seen as rubbish but as part of the circular economy. According to him, landfills contain raw materials that can be recycled and reused.

Earlier on Friday Genov dismissed Velichie’s just-filed fourth no-confidence motion—this time targeting environmental policy—as a procedural diversion that consumes parliamentary time needed to advance the cabinet’s programme and recovery-plan legislation. Referring to long-standing problems such as illegal landfills, which he said his ministry has been tackling since day one, Genov suggested the opposition table motions against all remaining ministries at once so that, by July, Parliament could dispose of them and resume substantive work; his remarks came only hours after the Zhelyazkov government had already survived its third no-confidence vote, on fiscal policy.