Residents of Suhodol district in Sofia renewed their initiatives against the decision to reopen the nearby dumpsite on the western outskirts of Bulgaria's capital.

A sign-up entitled "Sofia - a clean European capital" has been launched by the organizers, who argue the capital itself has been turned into a dumpsite.

"Sofia citizens have been silent for too long, it's high time that they speak out and hold the municipal administration responsible for the current situation." Ventsislav Bozhilov, one of the sigh-up organizers, told the Bulgarian National Radio.

According to him the European Commission is likely to launch an infringement procedure against Bulgaria for skipping the obligatory stages of preparation and disinfection of the waste stored at Suhodol.

Finding a solution to Sofia ongoing waste problems is a politically sensitive issue in the months before the parliamentary elections in the summer as the mayor of the capital Boyko Borisov heads the party with the highest public approval rates so far.

The very heart of Sofia woke up Saturday morning buried under piles of trash, overflowing from waste disposals. All trash containers are filled to the top, while garbage littering the streets significantly surpasses the containers' volume and pedestrians, with looks of disgust on their faces, are trying to make their way through the reeking piles.

According to a BGNES reporter, the situation is comparable to the notorious waste crisis in Sofia in the summer of 2006.

Residents of Suhodol district forced Sofia authorities to introduce crisis management in July 2005 after blockading the capital only operational landfill. The protests left the streets in the capital littered with garbage, posing a serious risk to human health and the environment.

The dumpsite was reopened at the beginning of December 2007 after the environment ministry backed the controversial option to prevent a looming garbage crisis in the capital.

Sofia's failure to improve its waste management infrastructure was one of the six issues on which the European Commission launched infringement procedures against Bulgaria during the first year of its membership in the European Union.