By Stefanos Evripidou
AKAMAS residents yesterday charged the Cabinet with discriminating against villagers by not allowing them enough development rights on land they own in the peninsula
Inia community leader Sophoklis Pittokopitis said the Cabinet ruling on the Akamas was confused and vague.
He accused the Cabinet of coming up with a decision that discriminated against the residents of the region by allowing only certain areas of their land to be developed.
Referring to a July 3 Cabinet decision which earmarked some areas as protected and approved others for some development, Pittokopitis said 11 communities would be adversely affected by the plans, which include a limited number of pockets of land where “mild and controlled development” would be permitted.
“How can you tell Andreas or Costas they can build on their land, but refuse Bambos the right to build a house for his children,” he said.
The Cabinet voted to protect three specific areas in Akamas – Lara, Toxeftra and Fontana Amorosa – but said it would allow “mild and controlled development” in other parts of the peninsula. Ministers also decided to freeze the issue of new safari licences to the Akamas region and to review all existing licences, which involve using forest tracks.
Private landowners, particularly big businessmen such as the Bishop of Paphos and Carlsberg magnate Photos Photiades, are among those who own property in the designated areas and have been pushing for development.
The government said it would exchange forest land that it owns with privately owned land on which development is ruled out or compensate owners in cash.
Residents of the Akamas, who have been seeking development of the environmentally sensitive area, had initially welcomed the Cabinet decision. But yesterday, Pittokopitis said the plan restricted residents’ use of some 130,000 donums they owned outside the state land.
The confusion was shared by environmentalists across the island, who said they were unsure of the government’s true intentions. The Green Party has reserved judgment, saying a lot of issues still need to be clarified. Green Party deputy George Perdikis said yesterday that a meeting with the Ministers of Interior and Agriculture was necessary to shed light on the situation..
He maintained that the residents were not so hard-hit by the decision, as the protection of residents’ land was restricted to areas between their villages and the sea — everything inland of the villages was free for ‘mild and controlled’ development. He explained that each village was demarcated by a zone where development was possible. According to the proposal, all those zones surrounding the villages will be doubled, thereby extending land that can be built upon and raising its value.
But many questions remain unanswered, Perdikis warned, such as, “Where will the government choose land for ‘mild’ development and who will get the benefit?”
Perdikis suggested that instead of isolating pockets of land for such development it would be more appropriate to increase the size of village development zones, thereby ensuring all residents were given equal treatment.
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