The President of the Environmental Citizens' Cooperation Movement, George Perdikis, spoke against the tourist development in the area of Petra tou Romiou with his statements today on the sidelines of his visits to Paphos.
Mr. Perdikis said that the recent statements of the Deputy Minister of Tourism Kostas Koumis about the area of Petra tou Romiou are “unacceptable”.
“There is no way that an area that is Natura, protected by the European directive on habitats, which we know very well hosts communities of birds and other species of fauna, can be given over to tourist development and become a beach,” he said.< /p>
He added, “infrastructure should be made to make it easier for people to visit the beach, there should be access for people with disabilities and guarding of Petra tou Romiou beach on a 24-hour basis under the responsibility of the State and Local Authorities”, since the infrastructure that now exist “are unacceptable and vile”. Mr. Perdikis said, “things must be done, but we must not destroy that element that brings tourists”.
Akama Projects
The President of the Environmental Citizens Cooperation Movement expressed his satisfaction for the suspension of the works in the Akama area, since, he said, “these were disastrous”.
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He expressed the hope, “that they will listen to our opinions and that the residents themselves will support our proposal to have limited access to Akamas only by public vehicles, buses, that will transport visitors from the communities inside Akamas, so that there are possibilities development and in the communities” and these proposals, which have already been submitted to the President of the Republic, “to be accepted, to have a real protection for Akamas”.
Mr. Perdikis also said that “for us, Akamas is not a playground or an amusement park, but a place of nature protection and thus it must be protected”.
Regarding the resumption of work in Akamas in October, Mr. Perdikis said “we expect that the Department of Environment will soon present a new plan which we hope includes our own suggestions”.
Platres
Regarding the construction of a four-storey building in Platres, the Mr. Perdikis referred to the protest event that is being organized tomorrow afternoon at the specific site. On the subject, he gave the floor to Andreas Evlavis, executive of the Environmental Movement, who – as he said – has been dealing with the issue for a year.
Mr. Evlavis he noted that “a video with 100,000 views is enough to prove that what we tried to highlight was not a personal difference with any person who made this development, but it is a shame that a four-story building is being built in a main river of Platras”.< /p>
Source: KYPE
