Residents of the communities of Mitsero, Agrokipia, Malounta, Arediou, Agios Ioannis, Kato Moni, Orounta and Meniko will gather on Thursday morning outside the Supreme Court, protesting the transfer and installation of an asphalt plant from the Idali area to the Mitsero area.
Speaking to CNA, Agrokipia community leader Sotiris Kyriakou said residents would protest because, as he put it, “we were not treated fairly in this state”. He also expressed the communities’ intention to appeal to a European court, noting that “the only weapon we have is protest”.
Mr Kyriakou also said that the contractor has already begun work at the site, including levelling work.
He noted that the Court’s decision on the interim injunction concerning the freezing of the transfer works is not expected to be issued on Thursday. “At least we want to send messages in all directions, because both our state and the Legal Service have forgotten us,” he said.
He added that the communities believe the impact on residents’ health is not being adequately taken into account and argued that the necessary studies for the operation of a plant in the area were not carried out.
He also said that a two-month extension had been requested, also ahead of a meeting with the President of the Republic. According to him, the communities had repeatedly requested a meeting and now “the President said he will visit the communities, so that we can talk in person, at least the eight communities”.
Regarding the process for selecting the area, the Agrokipia community leader said that the communities had repeatedly requested a carrying capacity study, which, he said, was not carried out.
More than 100 nuisance facilities in the area
Mr Kyriakou explained that the area is already burdened by nuisance facilities, something that, he said, had been understood by the previous government.
“We have more than 100 nuisance developments in the area, slaughterhouses, quarries, livestock units and pig waste,” he said. He added that it had been agreed that improvements would first be made in the area in order to reduce the nuisance developments, “which continuously affect our communities” and, as he argued, affect air quality and residents’ health.
At the same time, he complained about the way the communities are being treated by state services, saying that “they are trying to convince us that something nice is coming and that it will not cause any problems”.
He also said that, after Nikos Christodoulides assumed the Presidency, a new meeting was held and it was agreed that a committee would continue operating, with the participation of the Directors General of the Ministries of Interior and Agriculture, together with representatives of the communities. As he said, around 32 issues had been raised, but the meetings that followed did not produce the expected results.
Responding to a question about participation in the mobilisation, the community leader said that the number of people who would gather could not be estimated, as the protest would take place during working hours.
“We do not want to affect people who work, or make them leave their jobs. We simply want to deliver the message in a civilised manner,” he said.
The gathering outside the Supreme Court is expected to begin at 9:30, while the court proceedings will begin at 10:30.
Source: CNA
