Activists who demand the closing down of Mariscina, the main waste management centre in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on Wednesday again urged Environment and Energy Minister Tomislav Coric to close the centre because the situation in it had not improved and local residents still endured an intense stench.

The activists issued a statement saying that Coric had promised back in March that the centre would be closed if the pollution and stench it was causing were not removed by the end of May.

“Even though measuring parameters show that all relevant indicators are within tolerable ranges, an unbearable stench has been spreading in the area of Marcelj and nearby settlements for days,” the activists said, noting that the head of the company operating the waste management centre, located in Viskovo municipality, northwest of Rijeka, had apologised for the stench to local residents several times.

“Mariscina is evidently not functioning properly, it is a common landfill that only causes problems and where waste is ground in the most primitive way,” the activists said, noting that problems would continue until the separation of biowaste started and that local government units should be forced to start separating it.