The Friends of Akamas have issued yet another statement highlighting the stagnation over Akamas—and warning that “without immediate political will, the Akamas Peninsula risks being lost for good“.
But perhaps that’s precisely the point. To turn what should be a National Park into just another tourist resort. After all, that was the intention from the start—only sustained pressure from individuals and organisations prevented it from happening and partly saved Akamas.
Until now, at any rate. But the coastal prime cuts are running out, and the Akamas Peninsula is much coveted. Already the edges are being gnawed away, bit by bit, with the authorities turning a blind eye.
Canteens continue operating in a protected area whilst the Paphos EOA and local authorities see no illegality. The wealthy throw extravagant parties right where the turtles nest. Illegal buildings spring up here and there…
Two years have passed since the admission of the catastrophic damage caused by roadworks that began inside Akamas.
Although the minister and Department of Forests director at the time initially tried to insist the works were proceeding according to the approved plan, the images of destruction were so damning that the president was forced to take matters into his own hands—ordering work halted, an investigation launched, and full restoration of the landscape.
Yet, as the Friends of Akamas report, there’s been no meaningful progress since. “Despite successive administrative inquiries, meetings, and studies by various experts, not a single concrete result has seen the light of day.”
Meanwhile, plans have resurfaced to designate a new quarrying zone at Androlikou, above the area’s gorge. “An exceptional area rich in biodiversity is slowly being turned, through quarrying, into a desolate wasteland,” the Friends of Akamas note.
And yet we condemn the Turkish occupiers for destroying the Pentadaktylos range with quarrying. The destruction there tears at our souls—we lodge complaints with international bodies.
For the destruction here? Nothing happens. And if at some point we’re forced to say something is happening, investigations will be launched—the results of which we’ll likely never learn, nor will anyone be held accountable.
Besides, elections are coming. Every vote counts. We wouldn’t want to upset anyone.
But it’s not just Akamas. There’s another investigation whose result we never learnt—the one into the fish farm and other installations and activities at Trimiklini. Activities which continue unabated, whilst the investigation folders gather dust in a drawer.
