IT APPEARS as if up to 3,000 trees in Paphos may be granted a stay of execution following intense pressure from the Green Party over their planned removal to make way for a new road.
Andreas Evlavis, the district secretary of the Paphos Greens told the Cyprus Mail: “Following some pressure from us, it looks like the matter of building a new road will be examined more closely by the state environmental services.”
The road in question would connect Paphos airport with the main tourist road in Kato Paphos, joining the town at the area known locally as ‘Kaligulas roundabout.’
According to Evlavis, the subject of the road will be discussed at a parliamentary committee meeting today. “It’s not just a question of the trees being cut; we are also asking if the road is necessary at all,” he said.
Local Paphos MP and chairman of the House Environment Committee, Andreas Facontis said the state environmental services were too late in raising objections to the road project and everything was already in place to offer the project for tender.
The possibility of placing the road in a different area had been dismissed, he said, but if there was a way the trees could be saved it would be looked at. However the road was important, he added.
Mayors of the two municipalities concerned – Yeroskipou Mayor Tassos Kousapos and Paphos Mayor Savvas Vergas – support this view.
Vergas said: “The project is very important for Paphos and this apparent red light from the ministry shouldn’t have happened and they should give us explanations.”
He warned: “Paphos will intervene dynamically for the road to go ahead without any further delays.”
Kousapos added: “The views of the ministry are a little late. Some trees may be lost in the process but 6,000 new trees and bushes will be planted along the [new] road side. I question why nobody reacted when at the entrance to Nicosia 6,000 trees were lost in order to widen the road, and also why no one complained over a similar situation in Fassouri in Limassol.”
Evlavis said he believes that if local officials insist on the road being built they should find another solution, which doesn’t involve the destruction of the trees.
“The new road will be of no use to residents of Paphos and will only be used by the tourists staying at hotels in Kato Paphos,” he said. This is because the road will only connect the airport and the tourist area in Kato Paphos.
“In addition, it will only be in use for six months of the year during peak times,” he said. ‘The rest of the year the airport is barley used.”
Evlavis added that the area the road will cut through is not a busy one and traffic will not be using it on a daily basis. “This road just doesn’t make sense,” he added.
The project would also adversely affect the area of the Esouza River, which has a sensitive eco-system, he said. “It’s a turtle and bird area. It’s not just about losing the trees. There is a bigger picture. This road is a waste of millions of euros, just to cut a journey time by five minutes.”
