We will not allow Akamas to be sacrificed to serve specific interests

Statement by Christina Nicolaou, Head of Environment Policy of the C.C. of AKEL

22 December 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The decisions of the Council of Ministers on the future of the Akamas National Forest Park, and especially on the transfer of the implementation of the contracts for the National Forest Park from the Forestry Department to the General Directorate of Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, confirms that there are indeed responsibilities for everything that has happened during the execution of the road network works.

The crime that started in Akamas would have been completed had the government not been forced to investigate the illegal actions after the interventions of both AKEL and environmental organizations. Unfortunately, it took two months after the complaint for the government to proceed to do the obvious and take the necessary action. We are also awaiting the publication of the administrative inquiry, which, as we have been informed by the decisions of the Council of Ministers, will continue until 15 January of the New Year. With regard to the decisions on the re-evaluation of the projects, the restoration of habitats and recruitment of a project manager in cooperation with the National Research Institute, we can only express our satisfaction.

AKEL has tabled its proposals and outlined its vision for the Akamas peninsula before the state and society. We have been closely following the process from the beginning until the completion of all projects to ensure the protection and transparency that must govern such projects. We will not allow anyone to sacrifice the protection of the Akamas and our country’s nature for the sake of vested interests.