Magkli Lake in Lakatamia remains under private ownership because state services failed to follow Cabinet instructions to bring the ecological landmark into public hands.
A 2011 Cabinet decision intended for the lake to be gradually transferred to the state. Under this plan, whenever the owners developed adjacent plots, the land they were legally required to surrender for public green space would be “credited” against the lake area itself. This process was designed to continue until the entire basin became public property.
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou revealed the failure to implement the policy in response to a parliamentary question from MP Charalampos Theopemptou. Investigations into planning permits issued for land divisions in the surrounding residential zones (Ka6 and Ka8) showed that the specific condition for the lake’s transfer was never imposed.
The lake consists of three private plots within a protection zone. The primary shareholder is the Kykkos Monastery. Because the land remains private, neither the local municipality nor the state can manage the site.
The Interior Ministry has evaluated several alternatives to resolve the impasse following meetings with Lakatamia Municipality and the Environment Commissioner:
- Land Exchange: Trading the lake for state land was deemed unlikely to succeed, as the low financial value of the lake plots makes an equal exchange unattractive to the owners.
- Compulsory Acquisition: This is considered unfeasible without the consent of the Church, which is the majority owner. Even with consent, valuation remains a hurdle.
- Conservation Status: Declaring the site a protected area would prevent building but would leave the land in private hands, failing to solve management and public access issues.
The Minister indicated that the most viable solution is to amend the Nicosia Local Plan. This would create new provisions to ensure the area finally passes into public ownership during the upcoming plan review.
