Minister meets angry Akamas villagers

INTERIOR Minister Christos Patsalides yesterday met the co-ordination committee for the communities of the Akamas, who are up in arms again over the government’s plans for the area.

The community leaders said they would stage a mass protest in Paphos on August 18, following an announcement by Agriculture Minister Fotis Fotiou on Tuesday that the government was ready to start work immediately on the controversial plan for a national park.
Some villages in the Akamas are upset with the plan, because it will prevent them from developing in certain areas, something they claim will have a disastrous effect on their livelihoods.

Fotiou’s statement fuelled the row anew, with villagers saying they were not consulted that the plan was going ahead immediately and that they had not agreed anything with the government.
They claim that officials, and particularly Fotiou, has not even visited the areas to see for themselves what their issues were. The villagers have asked for a court injunction blocking the implementation of the plan until the issues are settled.

Fotiou said on Tuesday that the government was ready to start and would put forward a proposal next month for the appointment of a director to oversee the plan’s implementation.

The provisions in the plan include the imposition of strict controls on development, based on environmental, architectural and aesthetic considerations and the improvement of the road network connecting the village communities.

Fotiou said the work would take seven years and cost around £100 million.

Following the latest outburst by the villagers, a meeting was arranged yesterday with Interior Minister Patsalides.
A written statement issued after the meeting said it had been an opportunity for the Minister to listen to the grievances of the village leaders.

“The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere,” the statement said, adding it was hoped the dialogue could be continued.

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