Filenews 23 July 2022 - by Dora Christodoulou
The campaign to remove illegalities in the mayoral area of Pafos, brings to light another aspect beyond that of illegalities and their treatment. This is the issue of aesthetics, which seems to be absent in the largest percentage of districts and neighbourhoods of the city.
Unfortunately, to a large extent Paphos functions as a "showcase" for its beautiful image from outside, the competent actor told "F", with its aesthetic superiority being limited to areas where the municipality had intervened, setting strict conditions, such as the historical centre and the tourist area. From then on, there is a party of unaccountability in the neighbourhoods, he said characteristically. The same source pointed out that as a result of the problems identified, the Municipality of Paphos will continue the tour of the crews in areas where a serious problem was found. Entire districts of the city, the same source said characteristically, are full of arbitrary interventions by private individuals in their premises in a way that is both illegal, but also that creates a third-world image, while interventions are also observed in public and other open spaces.
At the same time, these sources stressed, the cleanliness issues are much more serious than believed. Mainly in districts far from the centre and the tourist area, cases of even small livestock units created in the midst of houses in available open spaces on the part of some citizens continue to be detected by the municipal crews.
The interventions that began in 2019 covered almost the entire mayoral area and stopped due to the pandemic. Now, they will be repeated, these factors stressed, given that in addition to the extent of the problem that still exists, it is also an obligation of the municipality to the tourist components of the city, as decided in cooperation with the Company of Tourism Development and Promotion of the Pafos Region and the District Administration of Pafos. During those consultations, issues related to the built environment and visual pollution caused by the arbitrary placement of all kinds of advertising signs and arbitrary premises that exist mainly in districts, along the streets and in several communities of the Pafos district, were discussed.
The President of the Paphos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, George May, informed the attendees that all the investigations and the remarks of the tourism partners comment negatively on the current situation and called for the immediate adoption of measures, especially regarding the removal of illegal constructions and shacks and advertising signs, as well as the propriety of all areas of Paphos
