The Council of Ministers was informed today on the progress of the implementation of the sustainable development plan of the Akamas National Forest Park, which approved the updated project, worth 38 million euros, which will be implemented in two phases.
Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Costas Kadis, said in a statement after the meeting, at the presidential residence in Troodos thatthe first phase is already being implemented, will be completed in 2023 and includes the improvement of the road network in an environmentally friendly way within the forest park. The tender for this, he added, was already awarded about 10 days ago.
The second phase includes creating infrastructure to provide services to visitors at various points within the national forest park, Kadis said, recalling that all this exceeds 1 million every year. For this project, he said, tenders have already been invited.
The Minister of Agriculture said the three main objectives that the operation of the park will serve are to enhance the visitor experience, protect the natural ecosystem of the Akamas, and provide additional benefits to the communities that will reap the benefits of the high traffic. Within the park, he continued, no feeding, accommodation or entertainment activities will be allowed, these will be done in the communities which will reverse the degradation of recent years and lead to a process of sustainable development.
Asked to comment on the ongoing reactions of local residents, such as those of Ineia, Costas Kadis said that the residents of Ineia are complaining about the local plan which is a different issue and under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior. "We have not announced the final local plan, nor the compensatory measures which will be announced together. I think that the people of Ineia will have to be patient as well, because something for them will be included in the announcements on this issue," he said."
He noted that both the sustainable development plan for the Akamas National Forest Park and the local plan have been widely consulted. They have achieved the maximum degree of consensus, he said, and with the decisions he expects to be taken in the next month regarding the local plan and with the implementation of the Akamas plan, "this issue will be closed with a positive sign for both the protection of the environment and the development of local communities."
He recalled that Inia had proposed areas for tourism development that were not accepted and could not be accepted if areas for tourism development over Lara Bay were accepted. On the instructions of the President himself, he continued, "we are currently studying the compensatory measures to be attributed to the residents of the area, who had some expectations for the development of their property."
He announced that on August 29 he and the Director of the Department of Fisheries will visit the Lara area and invited the President of the community to open the nests together "to see that the species is indeed breeding in this area, as Cypriot and international experts repeatedly say. "And there is no, no doubt as to the importance of this habitat," he said."
Farmers' markets
The Agriculture Minister also said that the Council of Ministers today approved the bill that differentiates the way farmers' markets operate and their supervision will now be transferred from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Agriculture. He said that the procedures for the operation of farmers' markets are being simplified and made easier and said that the most important thing is that the exclusive participation of producers, farmers in farmers' markets is provided for. "That is, the presence of intermediaries will not be allowed and this was a constant demand of the agricultural movement," he said.
In the next period, Kadis said, the bill will be submitted to the Parliament and he expressed the hope that it will be discussed soon, so that it can be implemented.
Source: CNA
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