Mazotos, Cyprus. Local residents held a protest on Saturday against plans to install a mobile desalination plant in the area, citing concerns about protected habitats and a lack of consultation.
Protest targets desalination plans
Mazotos community leader Georgios Demetriou Paphitis said he has an independent study recommending against a desalination plant in the area due to its protected habitats.
Protesters carried banners with slogans including: “We demand environmental protection”; “Without studies, without consultation, no to the dictatorship and amateurism of the government, are we third-class citizens?”
Council calls for suspension and studies
Paphitis acknowledged severe water scarcity in the area but criticised what he called the state’s “hasty and arbitrary decisions” regarding the desalination project.
The Mazotos Community Council called for “the immediate revocation or suspension of the decision, the preparation of a complete and independent environmental impact study, a documented assessment of alternative solutions and locations, and information on compliance with the procedures provided for by national and European legislation,” as well as the protection of habitats such as the Posidonia Oceanica meadows.
“We are requesting all of this because we heard that they are trying to bypass environmental studies and the urban planning authority,” Paphitis said.
Public meeting and ministerial response
Paphitis announced a public meeting for next Saturday at the community council, to be attended by the interior and agriculture ministers, and urged the public to attend for updates.
He said the council sent a letter to the agriculture minister on January 19 seeking answers to key questions. While he received a response from the ministry’s general director, he said it did not address the letter, and he said he will ask the minister directly to present the environmental studies during her visit to Mazotos.
What questions would you want answered before a desalination plant is installed in your area?
