Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

We had a walk to the beach yesterday morning, spent 20 mins picking bottles and cans up, had a bit of a swim, soaked up some rays then walked back home. Whilst getting dry I said to my wife " is that oil that's washing up with the sea weed?" No, it can't be! We went into the sea to wash the sand off our feet before putting our sandals back on and walking home......when we got back, both of us had oil covering our feet.

Apart from all the litter on the beach, what chance do the turtles have??? I phoned the turtle project and they are aware of it as they have stood in it themselves. I asked if they know of anyone that they can get to sort it out but they don't.

As if that beautiful beach couldn't get any worse

I have just purchased a villa adjacent to Turtle beach and we also were not happy with all the litter left lying on the beach by visitors. However what we also noticed was that there was no litter dustbins around to dispose the litter? We will be mentioning this to the mayor of Esentepe to see whether the beach could dustbins placed

DenizIsmail wrote:I have just purchased a villa adjacent to Turtle beach and we also were not happy with all the litter left lying on the beach by visitors. However what we also noticed was that there was no litter dustbins around to dispose the litter? We will be mentioning this to the mayor of Esentepe to see whether the beach could dustbins placed

Good luck with that the Turtle project has been trying to get some sort of process in place for quite some years!

DenizIsmail wrote:... We will be mentioning this to the mayor of Esentepe to see whether the beach could dustbins placed

I'm surprised that you didn't notice it before you bought - this has been an issue for some years.

If you really want to do something about it, you could try raising funds, buy dustbins, and put 'em there yourself!

...Then all that would be needed would be to persuade visitors to use 'em, and the Belediye to empty 'em!

Good luck with that...

If bins were provided the locals still wouldn't use them. They would rather leave their rubbish on the beach and be quite happy to go and sit next to it the day after. I'm afraid they need to be educated at an early age.

Have you seen the picnic areas where bins are provided?? Still rubbish all over the place

Has anyone seen the rubbish that was left after the organised motor cross event in Alagadi in May???

The leaving of rubbish is the same the world over.
If you ever see one of the Royal parks in London on a Sunday evening you would be disgusted....the only difference is that London spends a fortune clearing up everyones rubbish where in Cyprus the budgets dont stretch that far.
Michael

I agree that rubbish is a problem almost everywhere. However, I'm sure that neither you or I would throw things out of the car window or leave our rubbish at a picnic spot or on the beach. It's easy to bag it up and bin it at home.

True !!1
But it is so much easier to just leave it for someone else to clear up (or not as the case may be).

Helmet, flak jacket and protective clothing on. Why, oh why, do expats continue to bemoan the locals attitude to rubbish in their country? Bleating on UK-biased forums will not change a thing. I visited a local school on a different issue and mentioned to the Head the state of the playground areas where litter was strewn everywhere. His answer, from an educated man, 'Cyprus shrug.' I then asked why the children were not educated to put their rubbish in bins, but having looked around, I could see there were none. It is not an important issue for the TCs.

Just wait until Beirut's rubbish arrives at these shores. There is a huge problem just across the water with people having to wear face masks as there have been no collections for weeks. The Government states all Landfills are overflowing and they have nowhere to put it. !!

There has been a considerable improvement in the collection of rubbish from villages - at least in mine! l8 years ago we had to "bag up" our rubbish and take it ourselves to the nearest (very smelly) dump in Girne and a lot was left dumped at street corners etc. Now we have twice weekly collections by vehicles capable of emptying wheelie bins and occasional street sweepers. Is it such a big step to providing and collecting from bins in picnic areas and beaches? Some of the Mayors and Muhtars and becoming a lot more "tourist conscious" and perhaps some companies could be persuaded to defray costs by sponsoring the scheme and advertising their support. Brightly painted bins with cartoons would attract the attention of children and thence their parents.

I will over to Cyprus within the next 3 weeks and I need to go to the belediye to sort out my water supply so I will arrange to see the mayor who I have met before ( very nice man) who tells me has lived in UK. I will mention about bins and comments from colleagues within the forum

tomsteel wrote:It is not an important issue for the TCs.

Well it should be and it is important for the turtles and the planet.... Luckily not all TC's share your ambivalence to the subject, which I might add, I find somewhat insulting in the way you dismiss everyone's right to want improvement... it's not like it makes you seem cool to be OK with the lack of education on the subject. You just carry on in your bubble.... sad, very sad indeed.

https://video-vie1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hvide ... e=55B87E29

Some direct action....

Groucho, there is nobody more concerned for the environment than me. I spend a lot of time, daily, collecting litter from around my local area in Bahceli and disposing of it properly. So, ambivalent I am not! However, I still maintain my view that expat whinging on forums read mostly be expat will not change local attitudes. That's my opinion, you have yours.

tomsteel wrote:Groucho, there is nobody more concerned for the environment than me. I spend a lot of time, daily, collecting litter from around my local area in Bahceli and disposing of it properly. So, ambivalent I am not! However, I still maintain my view that expat whinging on forums read mostly be expat will not change local attitudes. That's my opinion, you have yours.

It was your ambivalence to the attitude of the TC's and their need to change their ways that I was referring to....

I would re-iterate not all TC's share this Cyprus shrug attitude over this issue... some are very vocal about the need for attitude change and that doesn't come from excusing it as a wide-spread problem.

I too collect rubbish nearly everyday on a three mile stretch of paths in Esentepe... but it's not enough.

We appear to agree on the need for litter collection. My point is based on the maxim "don't sweat the small stuff." Expats telling TCs what to do in their country does not go down well. Litter is but what one instance of how they conduct their lives differently than we do, parking, speeding, motor cycle helmets, judicial system, governmental beauracy etc, etc. We will not change them and maybe it would appear to be arrogant for us to try to do so. This forum will certainly not do so.

tomsteel wrote:We appear to agree on the need for litter collection. My point is based on the maxim "don't sweat the small stuff." Expats telling TCs what to do in their country does not go down well. Litter is but what one instance of how they conduct their lives differently than we do, parking, speeding, motor cycle helmets, judicial system, governmental beauracy etc, etc. We will not change them and maybe it would appear to be arrogant for us to try to do so. This forum will certainly not do so.

So we are not allowed to discuss how change might be encouraged?

I think you need to let people have their say and stop the negative attitude towards people who are not defeatist.

I'm more inclined to-

You must not be led aside by fits of disinclination or annoyance; if you give way to these you will never succeed. Patience and perseverance win the day. "Softly, softly, catchee monkey."

And from Lord Robert Baden Powell:-

If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, but under the circumstances it is a little “wearing.” But our motto is the old West Coast proverb, “Softly, softly, catchee monkey”; in other words, “Don’t flurry; patience gains the day.”
The Downfall of Prempeh, by Major R S S Baden-Powell, 1896. Prempeh was then King of Ashanti.

from Lord Robert Baden Powell:-

If it were not for the depressing heat and the urgency of the work, one could sit down and laugh to tears at the absurdity of the thing, but under the circumstances it is a little “wearing.” But our motto is the old West Coast proverb, “Softly, softly, catchee monkey”; in other words, “Don’t flurry; patience gains the day.”
The Downfall of Prempeh, by Major R S S Baden-Powell, 1896. Prempeh was then King of Ashanti.

Off topic but rather interestingly did you know that,

The phrase was later adopted as the motto of the Lancashire Constabulary’s Training School. It was advice to aspiring police officers that a bull-headed approach wasn’t the best way to nab criminals. This inspired the title of the British television police series, Softly Softly, from 1966 onwards.

What I have never understood with the TC's is how they fought and died for their little piece of the Island but don't care what it looks like to the outside world, such a shame.

jacob, hear, hear!
Groucho, if you are such a zealot for changing TCs attitudes to their own country, why not direct your enthusiasm towards those who can effect such change, rather than pontificating on this forum to a basically expat audience with no powers to 'envangalise' TCs? I feel this thread is now becoming a personal issue, so you may have the last word if it makes you feel superior.