Filenews 23 March 2021
The Police avoid being involved in the control of noise pollution caused by night centres, stating that it has other more serious issues to handle, although it is willing to accompany municipal officials when they attempt to denounce the owners of centres, especially when they come from the underworld.
The issue of noise pollution is being regulated by law by the Parliamentary Committee on the Interior, as its chairman, Eleni Mavrou, has also said. The Commission's proposal for a law aims to address the impact of noise pollution-causing night-time problems for residents until the problem is solved by comprehensive legislation.
The Interior Ministry expressed its agreement with the content of the proposed law, saying it was moving in the right direction.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice disagreed with the provision of the proposed law, under which the Police will play an active role in the control of night centres when noise pollution complaints are made, as well as in the provision under which the Police will also receive complaints from citizens (residents, etc.) and then undertake their examination. At the same time, he expressed reservations that due to the inability of the Local Authorities to handle such cases, the Police would become the only body to exercise control and at the same time deal with complaints. Moreover, he suggested that there might be complacency in the Local Authorities when they know that the police are behind them.
On behalf of the Police, the Assistant Chief of Operations, Dimitris Dimitriou, also expressed reservations, although he added that where the presence of the Police is really deemed necessary, the officers of the Local Authorities will be accompanied in their inspections. When the owner is a criminal, the police will be present, Mr. Demetriou said.
Commission President Eleni Mavrou expressed sympathy for the reservations of the Ministry of Justice and the Police, but indicated that at the same time the suffering of citizens and the protection of the tourist product from abuses should be taken into account.
A spokesman for the Deputy Ministry of Tourism said the proposed law adopts the view of residents (who will be consulted when a centre is to open up to 200 metres from their home), adding that this can be subjective.
A spokesman for the Association of Municipalities agreed with the increase in penalties and added that it would help the whole situation if the Courts were allowed to order the suspension of noise pollution centres. It also suggested that municipalities should be able to set the hours of sound transmission, so that some of them do not follow the phenomenon of starting to operate very early and transmitting sound until very late.
The president of the Association of Leisure Centres, Fanos Leventis, suggested that instead of limiting opening hours it would be more useful and effective to limit the volume of the sound emitted. At the same time, it complained that individual municipal officials do not issue authorisations to operate in centres. Some don't even get a response to their requests, he said.
But Phaedon is in the way.
The Mayor of Paphos, Phaedon Phaedon, has found himself in trouble because he is implementing the legislation under which in order to obtain a permit to operate a centre, the building in which it is housed must have a certificate of final approval. The issue arises from the fact that other municipalities and/or Provincial Administrations issue operating permits without a certificate of final approval. Moreover, it has been assumed that hotels are not required to operate the certificate and, as has been typically said, if so requested, most of them would be closed if not all of them. Members wondered why this distinction should be observed which favours hotels or the owners of centres in other town halls by putting the owners in the Municipality of Paphos at a disadvantage.
Both the President of the Commission and Mr Andreas Fakonitis have made it clear that they do not recommend that an owner be issued a permit when his premises are illegal, especially in matters of fire safety, escape costs, etc. The issue arises when in a high-rise building the owner of the centre is legal l but does not have a permit, because one of the owners of the rest of the building has been subject to urban illegality, which does not give a permit for the entire building.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry made it clear that, among other things, questions of the static adequacy of a building are raised by any illegalities and other issues, when the permit is rightly not issued.
