Development of Ammos Kambouri beach an environmental crime, says Greens MP

The government, church and international convicts are colluding together to commit an environmental crime at the Ammos Kambouri beach in Ayia Napa, Greens MP Alexandra Attalides charged on Thursday.

Her statements at the House interior committee brought to the fore an old scandal connected to Malaysian fugitive Jho Low that obtained a Cypriot passport after coming to Cyprus in 2015.

Presenting images from the area and a number of documents, Attalides told deputies at the House interior committee that the problem has been ongoing since 2012.

At the time, the Ammos Kambouri beach had been included in the protected areas, to counteract the impact of the Ayia Napa marina construction which fell into protected zones.

Nonetheless, the government moved to relax the measures paving the way to increase development in the area, she said.

Attalides told deputies this goes against the environmental acquis of the European Commission, which the public is bound to pay the price for.

Turning to Ayia Napa Mayor Christos Zannetou, she asked for a clear answer if the church has any land in the area and if there were hotels operating at the beach. More importantly, Attalides said she wanted to know if legal measures had been taken against them.

Two years ago, former archbishop Chrysostomos was embroiled in the scandal after it emerged Low made a €300,000 donation to the church and then purchased a villa on church land.

Attalides suggested the villa falls under a protected area and therefore should not have been built in the first place.

She charged that instead of ensuring the area was protected, there are jet skis in operation.