No deviations from the environmental study and all the terms laid out in it are being followed in Akamas, the forestry department said on Tuesday, a day after serious concerns were raised about roadworks there.
On Monday, the audit office said that the roadworks in Akamas at first glance seem to have issues and are not in line with what was agreed in an environmental study on the area.
However, the audit office were not the only ones to complain, joining a chorus of environmental groups calling for roadworks to stop as they violated the plan.
Commenting on the matter, the audit office said that on a visit to the area last Wednesday, the roads seemed to have been widened much more than the agreed framework, which said that roads would not be widened.
But the forestry department said that the plan was being fully complied with, and there was no deviation from the guidelines in the environmental study.
It said that it would “position itself if and when, it receives any comments and observation from the environment department and the audit service”.
The first phase of the works is currently being carried out under the auspices of the department, which will improve forestry roads for private use.
“An issue has been raised and discussion is being held on [THE ROADWORKS], without having clearly set out the problem and its details,” the department said.
It added that after the problem was raised, the forestry department requested the environment department conduct checks to ensure that all the guidelines set out in the environmental study are being followed.
The issue of the roadworks is set to be discussed by the House environment committee next week.
Despite the agreed upon implementation of the National Akamas Forest Plan, officially underway since September 1, environmental groups raised concerns over works underway.
Terra Cypria, BirdLife, Friends of Akamas, the Greens and Akel have all recently asked for an immediate suspension of the roadworks, over suspicions that they are being executed in violation of precisely stipulated, non-negotiable conditions attached to the national plan, stemming from a special study commissioned by the agriculture ministry.
Those raising the alarm have asked for the environment department to conduct an onsite review of the situation prior to allowing any further works, and Akel has vowed to resurrect the topic, as well as that of stalled compensatory measures for landowners, in the parliamentary committee.
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