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Greece will spend \u20ac6.4 million cleaning up six island dump sites on Mykonos, Tinos, Sifnos, Patmos, Paxos and Kalymnos, Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou said on Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n Papastavrou approved a funding call from his ministry\u2019s Sectoral Development Program to restore the six disused sites, the ministry said.<\/p>\n As a result, Greece will stop paying fines of \u20ac480,000 a year once the works finish, according to the ministry. Judges at the European Court of Justice imposed the fines because the sites were never restored.<\/p>\n \u201cThe restoration of the uncontrolled waste disposal sites on these six islands proves our decision to close the environmental loose ends of the past for good,\u201d<\/em> Papastavrou said.<\/p>\n He added that the projects protect public health and upgrade the islands. They also strengthen Greece\u2019s international credibility, \u201cleaving behind the era of European fines,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n The municipalities from the islands will receive the money. Their councils spent months working with the ministry\u2019s General Secretariat for Waste Management Coordination.<\/p>\n In that work, they secured environmental permits to restore all six island dump sites, the ministry said.<\/p>\n According to the ministry, the works will solve a long-standing environmental problem. In addition, they will protect residents\u2019 health and fragile island ecosystems, and boost tourism.<\/p>\n The clean-up of the island dump sites forms part of a wider push to end the fines Greece pays to the European Union over illegal landfills, the ministry said.<\/p>\nSix island dump sites restored<\/h3>\n