Quarrying could destroy the beauty of Androlikou

I am concerned about the increase in stone quarrying which is taking place in and around the village of Androlikou.   The village is at the southern end of a limestone plateau, which extends north towards the coast at Latsi and lies within the Akamas National Park.   The area is notable for the deep gorges in the plateau, the Androlikou Gorge in the east being the largest and longest, and the Petratis Gorge in the west, the most beautiful and impressive.

It is also notable, although less well-known, for the fact that the plateau and the gorges have been inhabited since Neolithic times, and possibly earlier, as evidenced by stone tools and pottery fragments which have been found in the area.

Quarrying has been carried out in the area of the Androlikou Gorge for many years, producing aggregates and road stone, and recently operations have moved onto the plateau to extract large stone blocks for building the harbour walls and breakwaters at Latsi and Pyrgos.

In the last few weeks the quarrying company has carried out exploratory drillings on the plateau between Petratis and Androlikou Gorges, presumably to find further beds of limestone suitable for harbour walls and breakwaters elsewhere on the Island.

My concern is that further quarrying here will destroy what is a starkly beautiful landscape and will obliterate all the archaeological evidence of past generations of settlers who have lived here from earliest times.

I understand that surveys have been made by individuals and universities on selected sites in the area but I believe that a proper systematic study is required to establish exactly how much of the Island’s cultural heritage lies on the ground and in the caves of this unique area, before it all disappears under the bulldozers.

Max Watters

Drouseia