Sir,
My wife and I spend two or three months every year in Cyprus. We stay in a small village in the Marathassa area where she was born. One of the many enjoyments of our visits is the daily reading of the Cyprus Mail, which gives us a great deal of information about local and international happenings.
During our visit this year, we read about the drop off in tourist arrivals, which is of concern to the Cyprus economy, being the number one source of earnings for the island and being partly responsible for the high standard of living enjoyed by the Cypriots. In your letters to the editor, one frequently reads about possible causes for this worrisome situation and suggestions for steps to take to ameliorate them. There are many excellent suggestion, but I see nothing being done by those in power to deal with these problems.
During our current visit and previous visits we have noticed two problems which should be addressed and hopefully help in reversing this trend. Number one is the amount of litter that is visible along our roads. It seems to be a habit of Cypriot drivers to throw any used cans, bottles and other unwanted material out of their windows, littering the highways. On closer examination of the roads, one sees large amounts of objects thrown down gullies and ravines, which will remain for ever until there is a campaign to remove these objects. One sees old refrigerators, mattresses and similar items which are dumped when no longer needed by people who have only one aim in mind and that is to get rid of the unwanted goods.
I think that there needs to be a national campaign to educate the public about the deleterious effects of this problem as well as some expenditure of public money to clean up the environment. These efforts would not only enhance the appearance of the countryside but would hopefully cause changes in behaviour and instil a sense of pride in having a clean country.
The second problem is that of animal welfare. One reads in your columns about the lack of financing for animal shelters. It appears that there are enough interested animal lovers to give their time to act as voluntary helpers in these institutions. It is sad to see so many abandoned dogs roaming around. The problem of feral cats is also well known. Every year, my wife feeds an increasing number of hungry cats. When we leave the island their food source is gone and by the following year we feed another group of cats, the previous ones having probably succumbed to starvation during the winters. What is needed is a programme to neuter these animals so that the numbers of these cats can be reduced to manageable proportions.
There are probably many other steps that can be taken to deal with the tourist industry problems. The two mentioned above may seem trivial to those in power, but tourists notice the littering and animal problems mentioned above and if they were dealt with would no doubt enhance the attraction this island has to offer.
John Norris, Ayios Demetrios, Limassol
