Members of the Mazotos Community Council and a representative of the Initiative Group for the Rescue of the Mazotos Coast, which currently has 350 members, will meet the new Agriculture Minister on September 9 at noon.
According to the Initiative Group, its sole request at the meeting will be the “complete cancellation of the decision to install a desalination plant in Mazotos”.
The group maintains that the Government cancelled the mobile unit in Ayia Napa because there were hotels and reactions, while in Mazotos a campaign to protect the natural environment and the sea has been underway for eight months without, it says, the community’s views being taken into account.
“They do not take us into account, as if we were third-class citizens,” the group says, stressing that Mazotos has natural and marine wealth which, it declares, it will defend to the end.
It further maintains that the decision on the Mazotos desalination plant was never the subject of public consultation, since residents’ views were not heard.
According to the group, the views of marine scientists were also not taken into account. The Community Council had assigned them to investigate the impacts on the area’s marine environment, which the group describes as valuable and rich in seagrass meadows.
It also argues that the destructive effects on the stability of the slope in the wider area, resulting from disturbance of the already eroded coastal slope, were not examined.
The Initiative Group further says that the proposed plant is not mobile but a heavy industrial installation, which is expected to cause significant and irreversible impacts on both the land and marine environments.
In its view, the project threatens the area’s ecological balance, degrades the natural landscape and directly threatens residents’ quality of life.
The group acknowledges that the water issue is Cyprus’ biggest problem after the national issue. However, it argues that the need to construct a desalination plant in Mazotos has not been justified by the competent government departments and that the available solutions and their prioritisation have not been assessed as part of an integrated plan.
It also points out that, at a time when almost all of Cyprus’ coasts are affected by pollution and degradation of coastal waters, “it is inconceivable” to locate such a heavy industry on Mazotos’ pristine coast.
According to the Initiative Group, the installation runs counter to the state’s declarations on climate neutrality, as well as to the prospects for the mild and sustainable development of Mazotos.
It argues, finally, that the installation will deprive the community of the opportunity to use its natural resources in ways that respect the environment and enhance long-term prosperity.
The Initiative Group for the Rescue of the Mazotos Coast says it will not allow the destruction of the area and its residents’ lives.
Source: CNA