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"Everything you hear about hotels and leisure centres within Akamas National Park, in no way correspond to reality," said Interior Minister, Nikos Nouris, when asked by reporters on Sunday to comment on what has been unfolding in recent weeks around the issue of the revision of the Local Plan of the communities in the Akamas region.
In his statements, in the community of Tempria, Mr. Nouris said that the Local Plan prepared by the Planning Council, following the delegation of the rightful powers by the Ministry of Interior, "will be completed after the preparation of all the environmental studies in particular and will give exactly the tone of what has been heard in recent days." The completion of the environmental studies, Mr. Nouris said, is essentially the final opinion on the Plan prepared by the Planning Council, so that the Plan is also considered complete.
He explained that the Local Plan will ensure "clear protection of the Akamas National Forest". "On the other hand, recognizing the necessity that communities far from the Akamas Park need the support of the State in a coordinated manner, specific recommendations have also been made, which we consider to be perfectly balanced," the Minister added.
Referring to the voices that have been heard lately, he said that if the statements of the owners and the protesters are combined, somewhere in the middle will be the truth. He said the Planning Board "has long ago struck a balance and after listening to the concerns of those who are protesting, about the necessity, which I would like to emphasise, of protecting the Akamas National Park, but at the same time, the Government is taking specific initiatives to give - let me say - social justice to those whose interests are affected."
Finally, he explained why the Local Plan has not been presented to Parliament, saying that legislation does not allow for the presentation of plans before they are finalised. "I want to reiterate for the umpteenth time, because it has been heard that the Government has refused to give the House of Assembly the plan, that there is legislation in this state that states that such a plan cannot be publicly presented anywhere before its final preparation by the Planning Board, because quite simply that means that anybody could then challenge the Local Plan and we would have legal problems," he said. Nouris, concluding that "there is no refusal on the part of the government, there is full compliance with the statutes."
Greek expert on the implementation of the reform in TA
In response to another question on plans for reform in local government, Nouris referred to his official visit to Athens on Monday to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Greek Ministry of Interior.
He explained that, in its role as coordinator for the implementation of the reform, the Ministry "has also undertaken to set up a technical team, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of the Hellenic Republic, which has responded to the call for assistance".
"Tomorrow I am going to Athens together with the officials of the Ministry responsible for local government, on the one hand, to sign a memorandum of cooperation, which includes, among other things, the assignment of an expert consultant, who, with the experience of the Kallikrates programme in Greece, we hope will be extremely helpful, so that we can reach in the best possible way and adopting all the provisions of the legislation in May 2024," said Mr. Nouris.
The goal, he said, is that in the 2024 local government elections, the legislation will "reflect exactly what the citizens want, that is, Local Government providing the best quality services at the lowest possible cost."
Source: CNA
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