An ex-officio issue on the issue of poaching and the re-establishment of the anti-poaching task force was discussed yesterday in the Parliamentary Committee on Environment.
In her statements, the deputy of the Ecologists' Movement - Citizens' Co-operation, Ms. Alexandra Attalidou, says that "recent incidents of poachers' attacks against activists, as well as against police officers, demonstrate the urgent need to re-establish Ulamos, which, unlike the Game Service, can make arrests if illegal trapping facilities are detected. The Unit must be reopened in a strengthened form and focus on organised trappers, as recent incidents confirm for the umpteenth time the complaints we have been making over the years as a Movement that organised poaching is linked to the involvement of criminal elements."
Unfortunately, the decision to disband the Anti-Poaching Unit of the PMAD has weakened the detection and suppression of illegal activity. The reduced fines do not discourage poachers but rather have given them the message that the Government is lax in dealing with this issue.
"At the same time", Ms Attalidou noted, "apart from at home, the State is sending out the wrong signals abroad, regarding its determination to deal effectively with such a serious issue. This is also evident in a letter from the European Commissioner for the Environment to the Ministers of Justice, Interior and Agriculture, through which he expresses his deep concern regarding the persistent problem of illegal trapping and killing of birds".
With the dismantling of the Poaching Suppression Unit and the reduction of fines, poaching and trapping have increased, a fact confirmed in the report of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS).
"It is truly surprising why the Government avoids defending the law and the institutions that are committed to its implementation, such as the Anti-Poaching Unit of the MPA, the Game Service, as well as the police officers serving in the local police stations. It appears that the various interests behind this lucrative illegal activity are more important than the protection of legality and biodiversity. The reintroduction of Ulamu is the only way to ensure the implementation of the law," she stressed.
We recall that the reason for the discussion of this particular issue by the Parliamentary Committee on Environment was the response received by Mrs Attalidou to her parliamentary question on the issue of poaching. The issue was registered by the parliamentary group of AKEL.
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