RESIDENTS of the village of Inia were up in arms yesterday when a plan to protect the nearby Akamas peninsular was officially presented, after a delay of 20 years.
The long overdue plan, aimed at putting an end to the debate over arguably the most pristine region in Cyprus, includes a number of measures that will be introduced to harmonise Cyprus with EU directives regarding specific Natura 2000 sites and declaring the Akamas area a national park. In addition, the plan will also provide compensatory measures to regional communities affected by its implementation.
According to the plan, the villages in the area would not be allowed to expand towards the west of their communities. These include Kathikas, Arodes, Droussia and Neo Chorio as well as Inia, the village that will be the worst affected. Inia’s community leader claimed the plan will destroy the expansion potential of the village.
“The Cabinet decision that states that no expansion would be allowed to the west of all the villages affects the Inia community 100 per cent. This is the main problem of Inia. Our whole community is located to the west, who gives them the right to decide what we are allowed to do on our land?” an angry Savvas Charalambous told state radio.
However, Agriculture Minister Photis Photiou called the plan “well-balanced” and said that decisions were taken after consultation with local communities.
“We have drawn up a plan for the Akamas area after examining all opinions and proposals in a bid to achieve the optimum balance regarding targets, planning and action,” he said. “What we are discussing here is a plan that brings out the best in the area and accommodates the region’s two greatest concerns, that of environmental protection and that of development.”
According to Photiou, based on Cypriot law, an eight-month period will now follow for everybody opposed to the plan to voice their concerns, before it is once again put before the Cabinet for final approval. A review will also take place every five years.
Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis said that local communities should not have any complaints as they are being given more than they would have wished for.
“The expansion of the development zones of the villages is being given despite the fact that both the current and predicted future needs of the local communities do not warrant such a big expansion. However, we have done this because in the last 20 years there has been no review of the housing zones and it is true that they will be disadvantaged by the measures restricting their expansion in regions such as the coastal areas of the peninsular,” he said.
The entire project, that will cost the government more than £16 million, includes the imposition of strict controls on development based on environmental, architectural and aesthetic aspects, the improvement of the road network connecting the village communities as well as giving landowners in the area land in other areas of the Republic that belongs to the state.
Charalambous however said that the villagers of Inia were not interested in these measures, adding that he believed that their community was being unfairly targeted.
“We will not have access to the coast, why did they not do this in the tourist area in Peyia or Neo Chorio, is Neo Chorio not an Akamas community, is this only true of Inia? We will not accept these compensatory measures for giving us land elsewhere, the people are furious. We will not allow the park if things stay the same,” he said yesterday.
Andreas Christodoulou, Director of the Land Registry Department, explained yesterday that people who owned large areas of land in the region would be given plots of land of the same value in other parts of the island.
“This exchange affects about 4,200 donums owned by businesses such as Photos Photiades’ company, the Fontana Amoroza Company, the Papaioannou family and the Paphos Bishopric and 1,800 donums of land owned by individuals or small businesses. The total cost of the land is worth about £140 million. Individuals will have the choice to be compensated either with money or by being given another plot of land elsewhere in Cyprus, but we cannot give money in the case of everyone, this would be detrimental to the government,” he said.
On the question of the demand of businessman Photos Photiades to build five houses in the region for “emotional reasons”, the Agriculture Minister confirmed that the matter was discussed in Cabinet without any decision being taken. Photiou said that the Cabinet had asked for Photiades to provide additional information to substantiate his claim.
The Federation of Environmental and Ecological Organisations in Cyprus declined to comment on the plan, saying that they had scheduled a meeting last night to review its details before making any official comment.
