LARNACA mayor George Lycourgos yesterday boycotted the inauguration ceremony of the Larnaca desalination plant to protest against the government’s decision to authorise its construction within the salt lake protection zone.
“I didn’t attend and it was a matter of principle. And it’s with a great deal of satisfaction that I can say that other elected representatives of Larnaca, deputies and local leaders did not go either. All except for the district officer, who is a government employee,” Lycourgos told the Cyprus Mail.
But it is doubtful whether the absence of municipal officers blighted the occasion. The guest of honour was Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, introduced by Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous as “one of the most well-known personalities of our days, a fighter for peace”.
The opening, first scheduled for mid-December, has been heralded as the answer to the nation’s crippling water problems.
In his inaugural address, President Glafcos Clerides spoke of “a new era for Cyprus” in which “water-cuts are a thing of the past”.
Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said the plant was “environmentally friendly” and fulfilled the government promise that by 2001 every household would have a continuous supply of water.
The plant is expected to pump out 52,000 cubic metres of water a day to the Nicosia, Larnaca and Famagusta districts.
But Lycourgos was vehemently opposed to the plans to develop the desalination plan, claiming it would ruin the natural habitat of the neighbouring salt lake.
After lengthy court disputes, the Supreme Court ruled in the government’s favour last June and work to build the plant went ahead.
Nevertheless, the municipality still harbours intense grievances against the government.
“The message we want to send, especially today, is that the government must not ignore the local authorities. Everything they decide must be decided in partnership with us,” Lycourgos said.
The plant cost the Israeli contractors £20 million. The government will buy the water they produce. After 10 years, ownership will automatically be transferred to the government at no extra cost, unless they wish to buy out the contractors before then.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
