Umbrellas placed on the protected Lara beach have sparked a row, with Environment Commissioner Ilias Myrianthous calling it unacceptable and Paphos DLGO president Charalambos Pittokopitis dismissing it as a storm in a teacup.
Myrianthous said placing umbrellas and other items on Lara beach is unacceptable, given that the competent authorities have banned it and put up signage in the area, prompted by recent incidents, complaints and a social media row over the issue.
Myrianthous met with Paphos DLGO president Charalambos Pittokopitis this morning, with the Lara incident high on the agenda. Speaking to Phileleftheros afterwards, the Commissioner said these were isolated actions by individual citizens, which he called unacceptable. He added that contacts with the Fisheries Department had told him something specific: the park rangers hired to protect Akamas were not in the area on the day the umbrellas were placed on the protected beach.
Even when rangers are on duty, he observed, their working hours are limited, and he believes ways need to be found to make surveillance of the areas possible for longer and more effectively. He also stressed that the fines currently in place for such violations are not a deterrent: a 50-euro fine, rising to 80 euros for a second offence.
Myrianthous noted, however, that the Lara incident was an isolated case, and that in most instances visitors to the area comply with guidance and the necessary restrictions.
Addressing the matter and the complaints made on both sides, Pittokopitis argued for his part that some were trying to cause what he called a storm in a teacup.
Two families had placed two umbrellas on a stretch of beach where this is banned, he said. He added that some people were using this simple incident as a spark to create a much bigger issue, with grandiose claims of “medievalism,” “an invasion of Lara” and other statements that do not reflect reality.
The paradox, he concluded, is that everyone shouting loudly about this case has not shown the same concern for work that should have been carried out in the area years ago.
Wider Paphos DLGO discussions
Lara was not the only topic on the table that day. Myrianthous told Phileleftheros that the wider contacts held at Paphos DLGO also covered issues raised in earlier meetings with municipalities across Paphos district, including irrigation, the creation of a stray animal shelter in Paphos, and waste collection and management.
Pittokopitis said the DLGO was ready to proceed immediately with licensing the animal shelter, once its exact location is set, as this falls within the organisation’s authority. He added that the Environment Commissioner had also been asked to help efforts to build and operate a desalination unit in the Chrysochou district.
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