PUBLIC pressure, thankfully, has forced the CTO to re-consider its construction plans for the Dasoudi area of Limassol, one of the few remaining natural spots in a town covered in concrete. CTO chairman Alecos Orountiotis said that plans to build a two-storey underground car park, a big functions room that would presumably host weddings and more restaurants, would be put on hold until Tuesday.
This is the day when he will discuss the development plans with officials from the Town Planning Department and the Forestry Department. While speaking about ‘gentler development’ of the area, Orountiotis declined to say what this would actually involve. On a more encouraging note, a representative of the Forestry Department told the Mail that “we will not accept further developments over and above fixing or replacing the existing ageing facilities”.
The question is which state authority is responsible for taking decisions about the Dasoudi wood? If the area is under the authority of the Forestry Department, should its permission not have been sought before the CTO applied for building permission to Town Planning? And why does Germasogia municipality have no say over the matter, considering the Dasoudi wood is within its municipal boundaries? Surely the municipal council should have been consulted before any plans were drawn up.
It is ill-conceived administrative rules that allow the CTO to arbitrarily decide how to develop an area that does not belong to it, is under the authority of the Forestry Department and within Germasogia municipality. It did not even bother holding public meetings with the residents of the municipality to ask their views.
We may be wrong, but the decision smacks of political favouritism. There is no other plausible explanation for the CTO building a two-storey car park, a functions building for wedding receptions and several restaurants. There are more than enough restaurants and functions rooms in Limassol, without having to destroy one of the few remaining pockets of green in a town covered in concrete to build even more. What was the logic behind the CTO’s ill-conceived idea?
Public pressure, combined with the intervention of the legislature, has forced a CTO retreat for now, but there is no guarantee that the original plans will be dropped. This is why the campaigners should carry on applying the pressure while the Germasoyia municipal council should legally question the CTO’s authority to arbitrarily plan projects within its boundaries. The Dasoudi wood has no need of new buildings. We hope in the end common sense will prevail and the only project undertaken is the refurbishment of the ageing, existing facilities. Anything more would be unacceptable.
