Government lashes out at jet-ski operators

THE COMMUNICATIONS Ministry yesterday hit out at protesting jet-ski operators, claiming they had tried to use a swimmer’s death to publicise their grievances and score points.

On Monday, the jet-ski owners alleged the government’s insistence on limiting their sea corridors had cost a Norwegian tourist her life.

Had they been allowed access to all parts of Larnaca’s Pyla beach on Saturday then they would have been able to save 45-year-old Anna Lisa Efstathiou, the jet-ski operators claimed.

The ministry did not mince its words in an official statement issued in response to these claims yesterday.

“It was not expected that a human tragedy, like the recent drowning of a woman in the Pyla area, would be taken advantage of, and that events would be twisted in an effort to impress and mislead the public for the sake of promoting the narrow personal interests of a small group of professionals,” the statement read.

“The protection of bathers from dangerous areas is not achieved with the creation of boat corridors,” the ministry stated.

Jet-ski owners are at loggerheads with the government over its decision to limit sea corridors for their craft. They went down to the site of the fatal accident on Monday to toss flowers into the sea in Efstathiou’s memory, sporting placards condemning state restrictions.

They claimed the government had repeatedly ignored their warnings about how treacherous the area where the tourist drowned was.

The ministry insisted that the area in question was marked with a red warning flag.

It added that its sole aim in restricting boat corridors was to protect bathers and limit noise and other pollution.

The jet-ski operators protest that limiting boat corridors will drive them out of business.

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