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- Ελληνικά
Every time I visit the Akamas region I feel more strongly that Akamas is a very important environmental and cultural capital for our country, but also an important part of the European natural and cultural heritage. This feeling of pride, which you feel every day, can only serve as a strong reminder of the duty of all the competent authorities and the State to protect, upgrade and promote the region for the benefit of the country and, above all, of all of you who keep the region alive.
I have listened carefully to your list of requests. Some of them I was aware of, some of them I will comment on later, but to begin to cross them off - and I am glad that two young government officials are with me today, the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, and the Government Spokesperson - the Minister will have to visit the area many, many times and there needs to be coordination with all the communities. I have expressed my view in the past that I think the decision taken to separate the communities of Akamas, which should have been together, was wrong. Anyway, we are now working to implement the Local Government Reform and in the process we will assess any challenges and any problems.
He mentioned for the first museum, concerning the "Thematic Route of Aphrodite", the amount of 15 thousand euros, for which of course we will respond. For the Turtle Museum, which is very important, the amount of 20 thousand euros. We are responding to that too. An amount has been requested for some machinery and an amount for the enlargement of the museum. We will be very happy to respond after submitting a specific proposal to the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment who is here today. And for the second phase of the square redevelopment project, an amount of around 800 thousand euros, for which we will proceed if it is deemed to be mature, and Mrs Savvidou is here, who played a key role in getting all this done and possibly in her new role her contribution will be more important in advancing the projects in the area.
40 days ago I had the pleasure of visiting the region and the honour of inaugurating the "Akamas Regional Museum of Rural Life" and the "Cottage Industry Handicraft Training Centre" in Druscia. Today, with the same feelings, I am in Inia, responding to the very honorable invitation of my friend Mr. Giangos Tsivikos, the Mayor of the Community, to inaugurate three projects, which I am sure will leave a distinct imprint on the development, progress and prosperity of the Community of Inia, but also of the entire wider region.
I had visited Inia many times as a young child, but the one that was most defining in relation to the community was when I went to study in the US in 1993 and I remember at the first gathering of Cypriots a gentleman, Savvas Tsivikos, coming to the first gathering with his car registration number plate reading "Inia". Dear Savvas, it is important that, despite the fact that you have been absent from the community for so many years, you continue to love it and to show in practice how much you support it. And it is important to have such people in all communities and regions, who love and support communities.
For the projects I mentioned before: the "Venus Thematic Route", the "Redevelopment of the Community Core" and the "Inea Turtle - Lara Education - Exhibition Centre", given that the elements that make up the identity of the three projects have already been mentioned by the Community Leader and the Prefect, I think it is appropriate to use the time available to me to make some points, challenges and opportunities for the residents of the area.
The first thing I want to highlight - and I'm glad because I saw it last time, I saw it today, and it answers a false impression that some people have - is that the residents of the area are more concerned and interested in safeguarding the environment than anyone else. Because it is that environment that proves the uniqueness of this region. And they understand why this cultural and environmental bias contributes to the development of a strategic objective of major importance and priority also for our own governance - and it is no coincidence that I am here after 30 years of being the President of the Republic - that of revitalizing and upgrading our countryside.
This is a purpose, an objective, a pillar of development with many aspects and implications, whose importance transcends the boundaries of the communities of the region and acquires a national scope.
And I want to acknowledge the work done by the previous Government to enable us to be here today to inaugurate it.
A tangible example of the Government's approach to the issue, among many others, is the measures it has introduced and is being implemented with remarkable results to provide incentives for young couples to acquire housing in rural communities, while an important dimension of the projects we are inaugurating today is the enrichment and upgrading of the region's tourism product. I am very pleased that this dimension is increasingly present in more and more projects in our rural areas. We inaugurated projects in two other communities 40 days ago, we are inaugurating three projects in Inia today, we need to connect all these projects in the region. That is why today I would like to announce that within the next few months we are going to draw up a specific plan, giving incentives so that all these centres will attract even more visitors - because when they are connected it will be much easier to promote them - and this is a responsibility that we as a State must take on. In the very near future, before the summer season starts, we will proceed with a concrete plan to attract more people to the area to visit all the museums. And it cannot be said by anyone that we are giving special preferential treatment to the communities. Because everyone knows - anyone who doesn't understand it means they don't want to see the truth - that what the community leader has said that for so many years the residents of the area have not been able, as any citizen can, to make use of their properties is neither a slogan nor an attempt to extort some decisions from the government. It is a fact.
In this context, we as a Government will hand over the school building to the community and this will be done by the end of February at the latest. We are talking about timelines.
At the same time, I want us to put a queue that says that if the government also decides to use some of the classrooms in the school, seven in total, we will be able to use them.
The second point I want to make is the substantial contribution and support from the Community Authority and the people of Inea in the implementation of these three projects and in particular with regard to the operation and management of the "Turtle Education - Exhibition Centre", which the Community Council has taken over from 1 June 2023. It is heartening for the Government, and for me personally, to see the people of the region, despite hundreds of challenges, being here and fighting, sending a clear message to us, to the State, to the Executive, about the need to support all these people even more. And this is a characteristic of the Akamas region more broadly and is easily understood by all those who know better, people who come from the region.
I want to congratulate the community leader and members of the Community Council and send the message that the State with actions, not fine words, will be there to assist in whatever efforts they are making and in the efforts of the neighbouring communities to upgrade the region.
I want to congratulate the community leader and members of the Community Council and send the message that the State with actions, not fine words, will be there to assist in whatever efforts they and the neighbouring communities are making to upgrade the region. After all, this is not about fulfilling a moral or institutional obligation, but it is a strategic choice with depth, with perspective and with a clear orientation.
Let me be more specific as to what we have done and what we plan to do as a Government and to discuss the disagreements, which is why we are here today. Recognising the efforts of Local Authorities and other stakeholders in developing our countryside, we support all actions by the communities of the Akamas region that enrich, enhance and showcase the environmental and cultural richness of the region and by extension help the communities themselves. For the period 2024 - 2028, the Government's compensatory measures include a provision for the State to cover the operating costs for the community infrastructure of all communities in the Akamas region. These infrastructures include Exhibition and Education Centres, Environmental Observatories and Information Centres on the natural wealth of the region, as well as museums that showcase our folk art and culture. Among these is, of course, the Turtle Education and Exhibition Centre, which officially opens its doors today, projects whose operation will be covered by the Executive.
At the same time, the Government is promoting the implementation of multiple actions for the period 2024 - 2028, which will give a significant boost to the economic development of Akamas, both through the implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan of the Akamas National Forest Park and through specific support measures for the communities of Akamas. These measures include, among others, subsidies to agricultural land owners based on the area of their plots, the establishment of an Akama Local Coordination Office which we need to move forward immediately and give the communities a say, the planning and implementation of the main road network in residential areas and the financing of a number of utility projects. To this end, we have decided on a package of 11 measures to support the communities of Akamas, the implementation of which has begun.
In line with what I have mentioned, I would also like to point out the synergy between the projects we are launching today and other projects recently completed or being completed in communities of Akamas and I mention, for example, the "Akamas Geology and Palaeontology Centre" in Pano Arodes, the "Akamas Regional Museum of Rural Life" in Druseia and the "Handicraft Handicraft Training Centre" also in Druseia. With these projects, a network of environmental and cultural infrastructure is created, which attracts visitors and creates conditions for new jobs and will act, among other positive effects, as a driving force for the sustainable development and progress of the communities and the entire region. All these projects create a blend of ecology, culture and architecture which, by promoting tradition and a love of nature and its elements, helps to increase visitor numbers.
A month ago the Cabinet took a difficult but public interest imperative decision for this area endowed by nature. I am referring to the decision on changes concerning the implementation of the projects of the Sustainable Development Plan of the Akamas National Forest Park. In light of either acts or omissions in relation to its implementation, the Government has decided that the projects and functions of the Akamas National Forest Park should be reassessed within a specific framework and timetable for the start and completion of the projects, which will not allow further unnecessary delays.
From this platform I would like to reiterate the will and determination of the Government, and myself personally, that the Sustainable Development Plan be implemented in a way that does not alter the philosophy and principles underlying it. You said earlier that it was a difficult debate, which ended with the agreement of all concerned. So there is no question of altering the philosophy and the principles behind it. We are determined to remove errors, omissions and excesses that would alter the essence of the Plan and negate its aims and objectives.
At the same time, addressing the authorities and residents of the communities of Akamas, I want to assure them that the Government is well aware - and it is no coincidence that the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment herself is there - of the boundaries between the protection of natural heritage and the need for development and utilisation of the area, and it is within this framework that we are moving. And it is no coincidence that my initial mention that all of you, the residents of the region, understand better than anyone else the environmental importance of the region.
In closing, and addressing specifically the residents of Inia, I want to say that it will not be 30 years before the next visit of the President. I will be here again as part of my desire to be in constant contact with all communities and I want to announce today that, despite the decision taken in relation to local government, within the first half of 2024 I will be in the community with the Ministers of Interior, Agriculture and all relevant Ministers. To have the meeting here with the neighbouring communities in this room to make an assessment of all that we have said, to see how we are progressing and specifically to address any challenges that we have before us. So, within the first six months we will be back here in this room with all the communities in the region, just to do an assessment on all these issues that I have mentioned.
(PM/MS/EAth/NG)
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