The Parliament’s rejection of the regulations governing the implementation of the landfill tax has sparked a heated political confrontation, with the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Environment, and the Democratic Alarm exchanging barbs.

In a post on Platform X, the head of DISY’s Shadow Cabinet, Michalis Ioannides, argues that the minister “did not even understand the statement” issued by the party and the Shadow Cabinet.

As he notes, DISY voted in favor of the relevant bill so as not to lose the €23 million from the European Union, adding that the Minister “rushed to respond instead of rereading it”.

“The situation has now become ridiculous,” he notes pointedly.

“Our announcement today makes one thing absolutely clear: the policies that we designed and that you, Minister, were called upon to implement—you carried them out belatedly, piecemeal, and incorrectly. You did not do what was required in a timely manner and left the matter to the last minute. ELAM, AKEL, and ALMA should not have voted against the bill, because their vote saddled citizens with the €23 million that we will now fail to receive from Europe. This, however, does not absolve you of your grave responsibilities. If you cannot understand a simple announcement—one that, in fact, explains constructively and in detail what needs to be done moving forward—I wonder how you will implement the much more complex procedures that are required. I’m sorry, but such a lack of basic understanding may never have been seen before in a Ministry since the founding of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Minister @riapan82 failed to understand either the statement by @DISY1976 and @DISYShadow or the simple fact that DISY voted in favor of the bill to prevent the loss of €23 million. She rushed to respond, however, instead of reading it again.

The situation has now become ridiculous.

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Today’s… https://t.co/SkXIITqm7S pic.twitter.com/iKwuWAS2iU

— Michael Ioannides (@moioannides) July 16, 2026

Panagiotou’s statement that sparked a new reaction from DISY

Criticism is legitimate, but political amnesia is not, he stated earlier in a press release, responding to DISY regarding the end of sanitary landfilling, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Environment.

“The DISY leadership is now attempting to distance itself from decisions that it itself promoted, proposed, included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, and voted for in Parliament. The landfill tax is not an initiative of the current government. It was included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan in 2021. The “Pay-As-You-Fly” scheme was also promoted and passed with the support of the DISY leadership. Today, however, that same leadership is denouncing the very reforms it presented as necessary until just yesterday,” the Ministry points out.

It notes that political consistency cannot be applied on a case-by-case basis. “A reform cannot be considered necessary when you propose it and hasty when you are called upon to take responsibility for its implementation. Nor can the DISY leadership ignore the fact that the necessary infrastructure it was supposed to have put in place had not matured to the extent that would allow for the smooth and economically viable implementation of the system,” the Ministry states.

It adds that the proposal put forward in 2023 was not accompanied by a comprehensive feasibility study and would have resulted in a gate fee exceeding €150 per metric ton.

“The current government chose not to pass the cost on to citizens in order to present a hasty solution. It proceeded through JASPERS and in collaboration with the European Commission to develop well-documented, costed, and feasible options. Through two years of consultations, we succeeded in reducing the fee from €35 to €10 per metric ton (less than €1 per month per household) and postponing its implementation to the latest possible date,” he notes.

He also points out that the plans and ongoing projects were presented twice to the House of Representatives.

“The DISY leadership is aware of them. Therefore, claims of ignorance or being caught off guard are not convincing. Criticism is legitimate. Political amnesia, however, is not. The DISY leadership must explain why it is now renouncing the very measures it promoted, included in the Recovery and Resilience Plan, and voted in favor of,” he adds.

He notes that the government “will not go along with this attempt to shirk responsibility. It will continue to address, with seriousness and a concrete plan, a complex and long-standing problem,” concludes the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Environment in its statement.

Earlier, DISY had stated in a press release that “the government bears serious responsibility for the way it handled the landfill tax” and that “once again, it acted without timely planning, without the necessary consultation, and without preparing the required infrastructure, forcing the House of Representatives into a last-minute dilemma.”

The party called on the government “to immediately present a concrete plan for waste management” and the parties that voted against the bill “to stop celebrating, as they have saddled citizens with an additional €23 million.”