At its weekly meeting on Thursday, the government will consider the possibility of declaring a crisis situation in Sofia over the troubles with waste collection, the government press office said Wednesday.

That follows from a report that the ministers of health, regional development and environment have submitted to the government on the request of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, after analyzing the health and environmental hazards from the disturbed waste collection in Sofia.

The three ministries had 24 hours to prepare the report.

Based on that, the government will consider Thursday several specific measures, including declaring a state of crisis, setting up a crisis headquarters, designating Sofia's Souhodol landfill a facility of national importance and asking the crisis HQ to propose an alternative landfill.

According to the "Dnevnik" daily, by declaring a state of crisis in Sofia the government can replace the waste collection companies already hired by the Town Hall to clean the capital.

The government press office said that the Prime Minister ordered the analyses by the three ministries as more and more complaints started coming in from Sofianites about the health hazards and environmental damage caused by the waste crisis.

The crisis flared up last month when one Sofia's waste collection company, Novera, stopped trucking away the garbage from several boroughs over a money row with the Town Hall. The Mayor's office responded by terminating Novera's contract and hiring others to do the job. In the meantime waste cans started to overflow and stayed like this for a while as the new waste collection companies needed time to get their bearings.

According to the ministries' report, the government needs to interfere because it has become obvious that the municipality lacks the capacity to deal with the situation despite all the support it has received so far from the government.

The report says further that the situation is critical because it affects a significant part of the population - some 2 million out of a population of around 8 million. A further argument is that the EU member states are required by the EU legislation to ensure the protection of public health and environment against possible adverse effects caused by the collection, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal of waste.

The government press release says in conclusion that the situation is without precedent in the EU, due to which the government has to assume the responsibility and take urgent measures to ensure waste management in keeping with the EU directives.

Fresh Exchange between Mayor and Prime Minister

Earlier in the day, Sofia Mayor Boiko Borissov and Prime Minister Stanishev had a fresh exchange over the waste crisis in Sofia, the former speaking from Moscow where he is on an official visit and the latter from the southern Bulgarian town of Peroushtitza. Borissov said that Sofia is currently "besieged by the government like Stalingrad during World War Two" and Stanishev said that the mayor always puts the blame on somebody else and that Sofia is the dirtiest European capital.

Speaking to his Moscow counterpart Yury Luzhkov during an official meeting, Borissov said that the government "wants to turn Sofia into a ghetto but will not succeed".

"We have to hold on for another month. Then [general] elections come and victory will be ours," Borissov said.

Asked by reporters to comment the Prime Minister's orders for a report into the waste situation in Sofia, Borissov said that the Prime Minister should have applauded him for dealing with the

crisis instead of "counting what waste cans have stayed full". There is no crisis in Sofia now and the city gets cleaner by the week, according to the Mayor.

Borissov went on to reiterate his position that waste collection should be done by a municipal operator. This is how they do it in Moscow and all other European nations: garbage collection is a municipal business, he said.

"Boiko Borissov should do his job and stop passing the blame around because everybody can see that Sofia is the dirtiest capital in Europe," Prime Minister Stanishev said.

He also said that it has become Borissov's style to sling mud against Bulgaria during his foreign trips and in front of foreign politicians. "It shows that he is incapable of debating politics and the government of the country," he added.

He said that the government is doing its best to help the Sofia Town Hall have a clean city "but clearly this is not appreciated".

The Prime Minister said in conclusion that he is ready to go to another direct debate with the Sofia Mayor instead of discuss things with him through the news media.

The two had their first debate on March 24. They debated economic issues.

Source: BTA