CYPRUS: Almost 2500 people say no to the new Paphos-Polis Chrysochous motorway

Almost 2500 people signed an online petition objecting to the new Paphos-Polis Chrysochous motorway being built, said conservationist group Birdlife Cyprus.

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The petition was handed to the Deputy Minister to the President, Vasilis Palmas, at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

In September, Birdlife Cyprus launched an online petition in a move to protect Ezousa Valley, a protected Natura 2000 site threatened by the construction of the new motorway.

 

The motorway also threatens iconic bird species such as the Bonelli’s Eagle, the Long-Legged Buzzard, the Peregrine Falcon and the Roller. 

“Overriding the findings of the environmental impact assessment study, the Council of Ministers declared the motorway a “Public Interest” project, and a state tender has been opened for its construction, with a deadline of 22 November 2019,” said Birdlife.

Those who signed the online petition are calling on the government to cancel the decision to build a new motorway.

 Activists argue the better option is to upgrade the existing Paphos-Polis Chrysochous road as an alternative solution.

Birdlife Cyprus believes that the cabinet decision “amounts to a deeply flawed excuse for putting an economically, socially and ecologically damaging development above any real public good”.

It says the 31-kilometer-long motorway will require at least five bridges and two tunnels and cut through an untouched landscape of high ecological value, including the protected site of Ezousa Valley. “Iconic bird species will suffer a major blow, mainly due to disturbance and loss of a significant habitat.”