The subject of institutional corruption and collusion in handling the illegal activities in the ‘Ammos tou Kampouri’ area was raised by the president of the Parliamentary Committee of Internal Affairs, Aristos Damianou, while at the same time, MPs Charalambos Theopemptou and Alexandra Attalides followed the same line of thought.
Mr. Damianou referred to an environmental crime, noting that the damage caused is largely irreparable, referring to possible criminal liabilities.
Specifically, he stated:
“We have a strong belief that serious violations of national legislation and environmental community acquis have occurred as a result of institutional and political collusion at the time. And because things need to be called by their name, to the extent that other issues arise that do not concern the Parliament but Justice, the primary material will be handed over to the competent Authorities, possibly for the examination of possible criminal prosecutions.”
In the context of a recent report by the Auditor General, who criticized the Department of Environment for its handling of the matter, Mr. Damianou also mentioned the following: “What happened constitutes a form of collusion and corruption prevailing in Cyprus, because that’s what it’s about. And we have very strong evidence of the political pressures exerted.”
“And I would like”, he added, “for once a public official to say ‘We accept pressures and threats, as happened in the case of Akamas. Let this minister, this MP, say they pressured and blackmailed us (because that’s what it’s about) to serve huge interests.’ Let them say, ‘We committed a crime in the case of the ‘Ammos tou Kampouri’ area’ too”.
“As they attempted to do in Pera Pedi, as they did in the sea caves, and as they are trying to do in Akama and throughout Cyprus. That’s why the role of the Department of Environment is crucial for what is happening”.
Addressing the heads of state services (who were represented yesterday by officials of their Departments), Mr. Damianou said the following:
“You have all the means to take action, and to refer to the case of ‘Ammos tou Kampouri,’ it’s disturbing that something is there and it seems we are reacting as if it doesn’t exist.”
“What can I say? That the Malaysian national was descending from the grass of his estate on his jet ski when the rocks that were there were illegally removed?”
“What happened is a great challenge,” he added, to continue:
“And those who intervened will be named in the report of the Internal Affairs committee, from municipal councils, to heads of departments, and even ministers who made the relevant decisions.”
At this point, MP Charalambos Theopemptou intervened, noting that some were digging and destroying the environment of the area without anyone noticing them, when the chairman of the committee took the floor to add:
“Week after week. They were digging at night like goblins and no one saw them with excavators and bulldozers. Neither the local authorities nor the provincial administration nor the police. Not to mention who handled the criminal prosecution that was initiated, as it was initiated after complaints.”
He then noted the following: “The thread of collusion was huge in the area. It was the result of institutional collusion and corruption. Horizontal indeed. As for the handling, I am not referring to the officials but to the heads of certain services. If I were the head of an Authority called the Department of Environment, I would take action.”
The report recorded expert opinions, which confirmed the initial concerns and findings of the Audit Office.
It is noted that the representative of the Department of Environment, in response to the committee president’s insistence on “who handled the issue,” stated that the handling was done under the director’s instructions.
She even claimed that the Department’s handling was done to protect the area, given that with the discretion that the Planning Department could exercise or the motives that could be used, perhaps things would have turned out worse for the environment and the area itself.
It is noted that in the relevant report of the Auditor General on the matter, it was mentioned that the Department of Environment modified the legally binding terms of its initial Report on Cape Greco, specifically for the ‘Ammos tou Kampouri’ area, increasing the building coefficient, the numbers of floors, and the building height without substantiating its decision with new scientific data.
In the same report, it was mentioned that the Department of Environment “generally and vaguely referred to motives that had been approved by the Council of Ministers and that would apply to future developments.”
This was reiterated yesterday before the committee.
The report also noted that the Department of Environment did not take into account the Fisheries Department’s official proposal to expand the “Cape Greco Marine Protected Area” in order to protect the priority species Monachus monachus (Mediterranean monk seal) that reproduces in the area.
The Auditor General had called on the Environmental Authority to seriously reconsider the issue and evaluate whether its decision was justified by environmental criteria or whether it should be revoked.
Moreover, the report documented the positions of experts (with whom the Audit Office collaborated), which confirmed the initial concerns and findings of the Audit Office, concluding that:
“The Supplementary Report on the projects in Cape Greco does not include new environmental elements or relevant new thorough analysis that could justify, from an environmental scientific perspective, any modification of the conclusions or environmental terms set out in the original report, and therefore, the modification of the conclusions and environmental terms, which are binding even for the Environmental Authority itself, in the absence of new environmental data, does not comply with the provisions of Article 6.3 of the Habitats Directive.”
MP Charalambos Theopemptou emphasized that the case of the “Ammos tou Kampouri” area is one of the “most classic examples of what corruption means” in Cyprus.
He also argued that state officials who handled the issue almost entirely have committed offenses.
MP Alexandra Attalides stated that “the Anastasiades government not only succumbed to huge economic interests but also violated laws, cut and sewed what environmental protection means, changed the habitat areas, cut a piece that did not exist and gave it to the Archbishopric as an exchange for allegedly a piece in another province, which is illegal.”
“In the end, it did not prevent the environmental crime of erosion and the total environmental destruction of Ammos tou Kampouri,” she concluded.
