Dear Mrs. Arsenova,

On June 16, 2004 with our letter to you we requested that public hearings on the Environmental Impact Assessment report for the National Waste Treatment Centre (NWTC) project to be carried out in the villages, the inhabitants of which would be directly affected by the project. To date, no answer has been received neither by you or your staff.

On August 5, 2004 in the local press (two newspapers - Maritza Iztok and Starozagorski Novini) announcements for carrying out of public hearings on EIA report for NWTC construction were published. The hearings are set up for September 9 and 10, 2004 - in Radnevo and Nova Zagora respectively. No hearings in any of the villages are envisaged.

We think that the above facts represent the MoEW's and your personnel sense of disregard to the opinion of inhabitants of the region that would be directly affected by the exploitation of the NWTC. We recognise the facts as a expression of an unwillingness of the MoEW to work on the environmental protection and its transformation from an institution that should be work for protection of the public interest into an investment-for-profit company.

In this situation we declare that we are fully entitled to conduct all activities within the frame of Bulgarian and international laws for protection of our rights, health and life.