Limassol district govt to order work to stop on ‘illegal house’

The Limassol district government on Saturday said it would decree that work stop on an “illegal house” being built near the Kryos river near Platres and examine whether conditions set by the water development department are being met, Governor Yiannis Tsouloftas said on Saturday.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), he said he had visited the site with the aim of “ascertaining the situation on the ground” and said that the owner of the site had secured planning permission, but that the issuance of a building permit was still pending.

“Immediately, at the beginning of the week, the Limassol district government will decree that work be suspended, and yesterday, we verbally told the owner to stop any work,” he said.

The water development department had ordered that the building be built at least five metres from the riverbed, though it appears that the building is located much closer.

The building’s architect George Papadopoulos told the Cyprus Mail on Friday that he had obtained all necessary permits from the land registry and from the water development department, as well as a plot demarcation certificate.

He also denied altering the river’s flow, saying he had “only built a temporary small masonry wall on the bank of the small natural pond to prevent dirt from falling into the water due to the ongoing works,” and that this wall would be removed once construction has finished.

Additionally, he responded to a video circulating on social media of a dead fish floating in the pond, saying it had arrived in the pond as a result of a fish farm located upstream on the same river.

The Green Party is set to hold a protest on Saturday against the project, saying it has “encroached on a riverbed and appropriated a natural waterfall as part of its construction”.

They had said they were “following the matter with great concern” and that the construction was “causing serious environmental degradation.

“The issuance of a planning permit was done by bypassing the competent authorities, according to our information, and this fact intensifies our indignation,” they added.

Some have reportedly argued that the damage has already been done to the river, which is famous for the Caledonian and Millomeri waterfalls.