Covering Cyprus in cement

Sir,

I have been coming to Cyprus for 20 years and five years ago bought a house in Paralimni because of our love for the island. We have just returned briefly to the UK and while we were there I was interested to read the many letters on the subject of tourism. One in particular referred to the “covering of the island in concrete”. This came to mind when I was watching the TV last night about house building in Spain, where it said that Spain accounts for over a third of the concrete used in the world for such a purpose.

My fear is that the Cypriot developers are trying to emulate Spain, which I fear will have a terrible impact on the beautiful island – particularly from an ecological aspect. In the five years we have had our house, the developments in the Paralimni/Kapparis regions have gone crazy and the landscape changed beyond all recognition – and still they build. Greed seems to be the driving factor, with no concern for the environment – made all the worse by the fact that years on many of the new builds are unsold.

Do the planning department have no concern at what they are creating and the inherent dangers of mass development? We have friends who have just bought a flat in Paralimni – because where they used to live in Spain the crime rate has risen to an unacceptable level. Are we to suffer the same fate if no concern is shown at the destruction of our beautiful island?

We are constantly asked to conserve water – are not all the new developments – if they are ever sold – going to place a massive strain on the already existing low stocks, and yet we deny the farmers water which threatens their very existence. Where is the logic in that? And we are now talking about a golf course at Cape Greco – how much water is that going to take? – and still the farmers will suffer further.

Please, please cannot the planning authorities see what they are doing every time they build these new developments – sadly, all they seem concerned about is the “next buck” and will not be satisfied until they have covered us in concrete. 

Tony Andrew, Paralimni

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.