Evidence pointing to rampant corruption at the land consolidation department, including blatant conflicts of interest, unlawful transfers of state land to individuals, and decisions by department officials beneficial to relatives or friends, were reported in auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides’ 2015 annual report.
The department’s mission is to strengthen land-use efficiency by aggregating and redistributing privately-owned swathes in designated areas with a view to minimising fragmentation – a key disadvantage in the efficiency of agricultural land.
However, the audit service’s investigations throughout 2015 revealed a number of issues in staff inefficiency, project completion times, and the lack of assessment of completed projects.
Moreover, the report said the Pyrgos project was found to have actually increased fragmentation, instead of reducing it.
“The major goals of the project, for which substantial amounts of money were spent, were not met,” Michaelides said.
“On the contrary, it appears that the actions taken created the right to build a residence for the owners.”
He added that the total area used as farmland after completion of the project – the increase in which was ostensibly one of the key goals – was actually reduced by 87 hectares, relative to that used prior to the redistribution.
Additionally, it was found that large plots owned by one individual were broken down and redistributed in 4,000 square-metre chunks, which is the minimum plot size that allows the construction of a house in land designated as agricultural.
Michaelides said government-owned land was sold to individuals that did not own land within the bounds of the redistribution project, on grounds that they were farmers, at prices much lower than the going rate at the time.
Others, he added, owned land in the designated area and sold it, only to then be sold state-owned plots as farmers.
Digging deeper, the audit service found that some of the people who were sold plots in the Pyrgos redistribution project were connected to redistribution department employees, in a way that “may constitute abuse of power and/or money laundering and/or unjust enrichment”.
“The case on the Pyrgos project is already under criminal investigation by the police,” Michaelides told state radio on Wednesday.
“Relatives or friends of the department’s officials appear to have bought plots in the area earmarked for redistribution shortly before the project was announced, in order to benefit illegally.”
Various explanations put forth by the department’s acting head were “under no circumstances” adopted by the audit service, the report said.
“In essence, they were characterised by a cover-up attitude,” it said.
“As a result, our service will investigate the issues that have come up by itself.”
In a statement of response, the interior ministry said it has addressed all the issues raised in the report “several times”.
“Therefore, we have no intention of engaging the media and public opinion again, repeating the same responses to the same observations, simply for the sake of maintaining confrontation,” the ministry said.
