Environmental and political organisations held a protest on Saturday morning in Agios Georgios Pegeias against alleged violations in protected areas in both Pegeia and Akamas.
Representatives from the Greens Movement and the Greens Youth, the Ecological Movement of Cyprus, Friends of the Earth, the Centre for Social Innovation, and Reset – Research and Education in Social Empowerment and Transformation attended the event.
The protesters held signs with slogans such as “Save Akamas,” “After the sea caves, Akamas is next,” “Concrete is not development,” and “Protect our natural monuments.” They called for the protection of the natural environment, sending a message that they will not tolerate illegalities. Andreas Evlavis, Coordinator of the Limassol-Paphos branches of the Greens Movement, stated that the Greens Movement and other environmental organizations are once again organizing a protest to inform the public that “something is not right regarding the protection of Akamas.”
Among other things, he said that radical decisions must be made to protect the environment and also referred to the issue of backfilling at the sea caves, saying that some people are “simply justifying the unjustifiable” after the fact. He said that the Environment Department and the Akamas Municipality and other services are saying different things, and he called on them to decide “if they want both the sea caves and Akamas to be protected.”
For his part, Stamatis Papavasileiou, Secretary-General of the central council of the Greens Movement Youth, stated that the situation in Akamas has “gotten out of hand beyond all limits,” adding that “impunity has now become the norm.” He called for accountability and an end to the lawlessness, as he put it.
Throughout the event, there was a discreet police presence, which was followed by a clean-up campaign by the environmental organizations at Lara Beach.