MPs on parliament’s Environment Committee delivered harsh criticism of the handling of marine pollution off Limassol, with DISY MP Michalis Kounounis citing around 300 recorded pollution incidents in the area and criticising fines of just €3,000 for offenders.
MPs voice anger over pollution
Committee chair Linos Papagiannis said the debate had been requested by many fellow MPs given the seriousness of the situation, and that all relevant services and local authorities had been summoned. “Something is going very wrong,” he said, asking how many ad hoc inspections had been carried out to date.
Kounounis said MPs were “very angry,” pressing for answers on what had happened following the pollution incident at Moni and demanding the real sources of pollution be disclosed.
AKEL MP Nikos Kettiros asked whether the authorities had identified specifically who was polluting Limassol’s sea, demanding “names and addresses.”
AKEL MP Marina Nikolaou described a bleak picture along Limassol’s coastline: “We don’t swim, we see foam in the sea.” Referring to the public admission of increased microbial load at the Moni treatment station, she demanded all analysis results be submitted covering the period from January 1, 2026 to date, and called for a systematic examination of fish farms and illegal dumping of industrial or other waste.
Litsa Drousiotou of ALMA asked which areas saw incidents most often and whether drones had meaningfully helped detect violations, while Yiannis Laouris of ADK said “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” calling for a list of possible causes to be drawn up and prioritised.
Foteini Tsiridou of DISY again raised questions about how well the services worked together, stressing that a real problem exists and needs to be resolved immediately, while fellow DISY MP Giorgos Karaiskakis focused on the stormwater drainage network, seeking assurances that it was functioning properly, could be traced, and was not being used for illegal dumping from tanker trucks.
Officials’ mapping of pollution sources
Earlier in the session, before MPs raised their criticisms, officials had presented their own assessment of the problem.
Deputy Ministry of Shipping adviser Angelos Menelaou presented a detailed mapping of Limassol’s pollution sources, dividing them into four categories. Two concern land-based and fixed sources: steady flows from natural or human activity, such as pipes, drains and building drainage, which require targeted mapping and permit checks, and fixed installations within the marine ecosystem, such as fish farm and desalination units.
The other two concern vessels: ships that move through or anchor in the area, which are fewer in number and easier to target, and recreational and coastal vessels, smaller boats that are the hardest to monitor and track. Menelaou said a risk assessment study must be carried out before licensing any activity, and described accountability through a digital platform as decisive, so that everyone knows “who does what.”
The Deputy Ministry of Shipping also submitted a memo on its pollution response mechanism, saying it coordinates a relevant committee. This inspection regime applies mainly to the coastal and recreational vessels Menelaou identified as hardest to monitor: all coastal vessels, around 230 in total, are inspected annually, including checks on marine environment protection and waste-delivery documentation, and no violations were found in this year’s annual checks.
Papagiannis’s question about the number of ad hoc inspections is addressed by the Deputy Ministry’s own data: five vessels were inspected on an ad hoc basis this year, covering ten different mooring locations in May and June.
Environment Department’s response
Environment Department deputy director Elena Stylianopoulou said her department is the competent authority for swimming waters, water quality, and controlling pollution reaching the sea from land-based sources. Sampling for swimming waters is normally carried out monthly, she said, but for Limassol specifically the frequency has doubled to twice a month as part of regular checks, with a strict protocol in place for responding to incidents in real time.
Stylianopoulou said seven specific point sources are recorded and monitored in the Limassol area. Only four were listed in the department’s briefing: desalination units, fish farm units, the Moni treatment and outflow station, and tall building developments licensed for dewatering. The department said checks and sampling continue intensively, with full digital mapping of all outflow points under way to put a definitive stop to illegal discharges.
Finally, DISY MP Michalis Fellas asked how many Blue Flags Limassol currently holds compared with the past, stressing that the real goal was genuine protection of the marine environment.
