According to the statement, the Paphos Municipality, as part of a targeted policy, has in recent years undertaken the planting of thousands of new trees, in addition to the maintenance and upgrading of the city's greenery.
The need to cut down the 16 specific trees came about, he says, through a technocratic approach involving the redevelopment and improvement project of Grivas Digenis Avenue, which is currently underway.
The geometric characteristics of the road, as designed and approved by the Technical Committee of the Traffic Problems Resolution Body and presented for public consultation on 14 March 2018, are such that, combined with the need to pass the services of the Cyprus Electricity Authority, Cyprus Telecommunications Authority, Water Supply, Paphos Drainage Board and additional infrastructure of private telecommunication companies, created such data that strictly and only technocrats decided that it was not possible to implement the project without cutting down the specific 16 trees.
As the Municipality of Paphos notes in its announcement, in this decision neither the Mayor nor the Municipal Council had any involvement, even though it was said from time to time that every effort would be made to cut down as few trees as possible or even none at all.
The result of this effort was as a technocratic team decided on the specific 16 trees.
The statement also points out that yesterday's statement, for example, by the Cyprus Electricity Authority that it had no involvement in the cutting of the trees is only half the truth, stressing that the Authority was not involved in the crew or in supervising the cutting of the trees, but the specifications it set for the location of the new wells of its network infrastructure, requiring specific depths and widths for its manholes, are a substantial reason why certain trees were cut down, in conjunction with the installation of the other Utilities' networks where they are now undergrounded to specific widths and depths within the sidewalks based on current standards and regulations.
It is further emphasized that the Forestry Department was informed and approved the cutting of the trees after consultation and a site visit.
The Municipality of Paphos and the contractor company note that they will make every effort to ensure that the implementation of the project does not affect any of the existing trees and will not consider any cost to protect the root system and therefore the existence of these trees, the statement concludes.
For the knowledge of the public, the notice continues, during the implementation of a project and the excavations made to place the various services, not only should the trunk of the tree be protected but also the root system should not be affected in any substantial way since this will result in the tree being temporarily saved visually but then immediately drained.
It is a pity, the statement adds, to criticize the Municipality of Paphos at a time when its efforts are daily for the rescue of such trees and for the promotion of the city's greenery. Environmental consciousness cannot be monopolized by anyone, nor can it be monopolized by some people who think that they will practice politics and criticism in order to enjoy publicity through misinformation, characterizations and aphorisms.
The Municipality of Paphos is committed to the great effort to develop the city's infrastructure and promote Paphos as a green city, the statement concludes.
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