British Bases defend Akrotiri Salt Lake infrastructure modernisation plans

Akrotiri, Cyprus. The British Bases administration has defended plans to modernise infrastructure at Akrotiri Salt Lake, saying it remains committed to public consultation and engagement with local communities ahead of a protest planned for Saturday.

Planned protest

The protest outside RAF Akrotiri is being organised with the support of the Akrotiri Merra Committee, the Akrotiri Zero Hour movement and organised groups from Kourion municipality.

Organisers called on participants to join peacefully, “with unity and responsibility”, to send what they described as a clear message in defence of their community and the surrounding environment.

Infrastructure plans

A British Bases spokesperson said the Sovereign Base Area Administration respected “the right to peaceful, lawful protest”.

The administration said the project includes installing new equipment and upgrading existing assets at Akrotiri Salt Lake.

It said maintaining the capability in the long term would require acquiring additional land, but any such process would follow legal procedures.

“Any such activity will follow the required processes and involve engagement with affected landowners, including consideration of compensation that might be due,” the spokesperson said.

Consultation and health concerns

The administration said work would not begin until statutory environmental assessment and public consultation procedures had been completed. It said it was awaiting the necessary applications from the project sponsor before starting those processes.

Kourion mayor Pantelis Georgiou has previously accused the British Bases administration of “lying” to the municipality over the number of communications antennae in the Akrotiri base area.

Addressing residents’ longstanding concerns over possible health effects from radiofrequency emissions, the administration referred to the findings of a publicly available independent study.