Newsroom
The road works in Akamas are not just unfinished; they may be actively putting the area at risk. That is the blunt warning from Environment and Animal Welfare Commissioner Antonia Theodosiou, who says Cyprus still lacks a final, comprehensive plan for the road network in the protected Akamas peninsula, despite years of work and millions of euros spent.
Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, Theodosiou said the interventions carried out so far fail to respect the unique character of Akamas and do little to protect its biodiversity. Instead, she described a project marked by fragmented decisions, poor design, and the absence of proper scientific planning.
“At this point, we do not have any final study,” she said, stressing that a sensitive area like Akamas requires input from an interdisciplinary team, something that has yet to happen.
The result, she warned, is a road network that does not match the landscape or topography of the area. She pointed to the use of rectangular culverts, bridge-like structures, and cylindrical pipes that, she said, are incompatible with the natural environment.
Compounding the problem, the works, suspended in December 2023 following environmental objections, have been left half-finished. Theodosiou described the area as resembling an abandoned construction site, with roads left incomplete and decisions still pending on the next phase of the project.
She also questioned why previously agreed management measures are not being enforced. Under the approved management plan, private vehicle access was meant to be limited, with specific parking areas on the Lara side of Akamas, while only public buses would operate on the Loutra side. Those restrictions, she noted, have not been implemented.
The commissioner emphasized that these are not public roads but forest roads intended to serve the management of the National Forest Park, a distinction she said the public needs to understand.
Beyond aesthetics, Theodosiou warned that the problem runs deeper. She raised serious concerns about a newly constructed asphalt road by the Municipality of Akamas that stretches almost to Aspros Potamos, at the edge of the national park. The road, she said, lacks a proper rainwater drainage system.
As a result, rainfall is funneled to the point where the asphalt ends, then diverted through a protected beach zone and rocky terrain before pouring into the sea from a height, a situation she described as a ticking time bomb for erosion.
“It is only a matter of time,” she warned, especially after sustained rainfall.
Theodosiou also said she disagreed with a proposal approved by an ad hoc committee to channel rainwater through a vertical culvert ending near the Aspros River, an area within the Natura 2000 network. Instead, she submitted an alternative plan for an underground drainage system that would redirect water back toward the start of the road, where it could be collected and reused for irrigation.
For Theodosiou, the issue is not whether the roads look good, but whether they make sense environmentally, now and in the long term.
The Akamas road projects, costing €16.5 million and funded through the EU’s THALEIA 2021–2027 program, began in September 2022. Nearly three years later, the commissioner’s message is clear: without a clear plan, scientific backing, and respect for the area’s limits, Akamas risks being damaged in the name of “improvement.”
