Eleven villages in the Akamas peninsula on Saturday protested government plans to divide them between the municipalities of Polis Chrysochou and Peyia in the upcoming local government reform.
Speaking at the community council meeting of Droushia, the leaders expressed their dissatisfaction with the government’s plans to divvy up the 11 villages in the peninsula among the two large municipalities.
They demanded that they should be treated as one entity, and for the government to reconsider splitting them.
Commenting at the session, the former community leader of Neo Chorio Andreas Christodoulou said that gathering on Saturday in Droushia aimed to protest for the last time, because “parliament, the government, and the parties are playing with our intelligence”.
In the event that they are not listened to, Christodoulou said that they will proceed with much stronger measures such as abstaining from the elections.
He added that today only the elderly have remained in the communities, noting that they want the merging of some communities because, he explained, some communities have incomes, and they wish to “swallow” them [the incomes], through the municipalities.
Based on the reform passed, the communities of Inia, Pano and Kato Arodes, Kathikas, Akoursos, Kissonerga and Peyia will merge into the municipality of Peyia.
The communities of Droushia, Neo Chorio, Androlykou, Kritou Terra and Terra will join the municipality of Polis Chrysochou.