WORK IS being carried out in the ancient harbour of Paphos without the relevant permissions from local authorities according to councillor Polis Polydorou.
The claim has been rejected by the Ports Authority however.
A meeting of the town planning and administration committee in Paphos on Monday resulted in a decision to formally request that the work stop until conclusive studies have been carried out.
The Ports Authority has created a 400 square-metre structure in the sea, which sits between the concrete and wooden piers.
According to Polydorou, the Ports Authority plans to rent out the newly created space to local to cafιs and restaurants as a seating area complete with umbrellas.
“This is a very sensitive area, as it’s an ancient port and work has gone ahead without the authorisation of the local authorities,” said Polydorou.
Ports Authority general manager Yiannakis Kokkinos said yesterday that all the paperwork was in place.
“We have all the necessary licenses and contacted the appropriate authorities prior to work in the area. The town planning departments and the council of Paphos were made fully aware of the situation prior to any work being carried out,” he said.
Kokkinos added that as far as he was aware all legalities had been observed.
“I can’t say what our response will be to their formal letter as we have yet to receive it,” he said.
Polydorou said the works would negatively affect the overview of the harbour as well as the environment. He said there were numerous problems connected to the structure including creating a monopoly for business in the area, which already get a large chunk of the tourism pie.
“It will negatively affect businesses which aren’t located in the harbour,” Polydorou said.
“As a local authority it’s part of our mission to try and ensure tourism is evenly spread across the town and not just concentrated in one area.”
He said Paphos municipality was only informed of the works on Monday afternoon.
“I saw the structure myself a few days ago, and began asking questions,” he added.
Polydorou also pointed out that to date no studies had been done to discover whether antiquities lay in waters off the harbour. Great swathes of Kato Paphos are already designated as protected UNESCO sites.
