‘Environmental crimes at Ayia Napa beach must be re-examined’

The environmental crime at Ammos Kambouris beach in Ayia Napa, which is a scandal involving the government, church and international convicts needs to be reopened, Greens MP Alexandra Attalides said on Wednesday.

Ahead of the continuation of the discussion on the matter at the House interior committee on Thursday, she claimed that the police and the legal service failed to substantiate allegations made about planning interventions at the Ayia Napa beach.

She said authorities did not contact complainants to testify and urged that the case should be reopened.

Upon receiving the complaints, Attalides said the district officer and the police should have visited the site and arrested those behind the crime. There were advertisements on public display for the developments with the names of the developers, she said.

Beaches are not private but belong to everyone, she said, adding how anyone who disrespected the law should go to court and to jail.

On Thursday, the House interior committee is expected to examine whether the responses from the relevant departments are satisfactory and decide on what should be done about the case.

During a previous session of the same committee in April, Attalides brought attention to an old scandal connected to Malaysian fugitive Jho Low who obtained a Cypriot passport after coming to Cyprus in 2015.

She said the problem has been ongoing since 2012, when the Ammos Kambouri beach had been included in protected areas.

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.

She also asked Ayia Napa Mayor Christos Zannetou whether the church has any land in the area, if there were hotels operating at the beach and 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, while there are jet skis in operation at the beach.