Our View: Secrecy surrounding the Akamas plan does not inspire much confidence

The government’s refusal to release the Akamas Plan to the legislature was certain to raise suspicions among everyone interested in the protection of this area natural beauty. Many people, understandably, do not trust the government to do the right thing because it has always had the tendency to bow to pressure, regardless of whether this was applied by residents of the area’s villages or by big developers.

With presidential elections just nine months away, suspicions that plans are being chopped and changed to satisfy as many voters as possible, are not unjustified. Sadly, this is how things work in Cyprus. Greens deputy Alexandra Attalides accused the government of following non-transparent procedures for modifications to the plan, about which big reservations had been expressed by state agencies, especially with regard to the protection of the flora and fauna.

The interior ministry, which is responsible for deciding zoning and building coefficients said that calls for making the maps for the area public were irresponsible as they would undermine the legality of the process. Legally speaking it is correct, but the secrecy does not inspire much confidence and neither does the ministry’s assurance that the plan was being prepared within the framework of the current legislation and in accordance with the decision of the council of ministers.

Like most of its predecessors, the Anastasiades government is not immune to public pressure. Pressure from the area’s residents is the reason that the Akamas Plan has been under discussion, without a final decision being taken for 38 years. This is the crux of the problem – governments have been labouring under the illusion that there could be a plan that will keep everyone happy – the area’s landowners, developers and environmental groups. This is never going to happen no matter how many times the government chops and changes the plan.

Arbitrary decisions will have to be taken that some people will consider unfair and try to change. This expectation was cultivated by years of chopping and changing the plan. On the higher range of the Troodos mountains there have always been strict building regulations about which none of the residents are complaining or protesting that they are being treated unfairly. They have accepted that the law does not allow developments in the forests, because governments have been uncompromising.

Why is it so difficult to protect the Akamas in the same way the state has protected our mountain forests? Does the one remaining coastal area of Cyprus that has not been covered in concrete have to be destroyed, because the locals have to be able to sell their land at a premium?