Court crackdown on fresh Akamas violations

The legal service will examine 20 cases of violations on Akamas agricultural property next to the protected Natura 2000 zone, the interior ministry announced on Thursday.

Owners have ignored warnings from the ministry urging them to comply with the law, and as such, will now face court proceedings.

According to an announcement by the interior ministry, the violations were identified in September when a team of inspectors went to assess the legalities on livestock and agricultural properties in Akamas.

The 20 cases identified involved owners making changes to their properties illegally, outside of what they were permitted to under the conditions of their licence.

Though they were sent a letter with a two-month deadline to correct the errors, they failed do so.

As such, the Paphos district office and town planning department is preparing reports to be sent to the legal service, which will be taking the cases to court.

In total, 25 violations were identified, five of which are already facing court proceedings. The violations are on properties neighbouring the Akamas national forest, close to Natura 2000 areas.

The examination of the violations comes on top of the investigations into the extensive roadworks in the Akamas which have been stopped by authorities after protests that they have exceeded the regulations in the Akamas National Plan with roads being unnecessarily widened.