Filenews 8 August 2022 - by Natasha Christoforou
At a time when tourism industry players are struggling to attract quality tourism and limit the damage from the pandemic and the loss of the Russian market, others, taking advantage of the loopholes in the legislation, are destroying what is being built with a lot of effort. Bars and outdoor clubs, create this year through deafening music an intolerable atmosphere, until the morning hours in the centre of Protaras, which is more reminiscent of... Mykonos.
The results are tragic, since as hoteliers complained to "F", the complaints from tourists who cannot sleep at nights, are by the hundreds every day. Warning of huge repercussions on Protaras' tourism product, if the situation is not immediately corrected, they even say that some tourists are leaving these hotels in a hurry by making very negative reviews on platforms such as booking.com and TripAdvisor, which play a big role in bookings and shaping the image of a tourist destination.
The owner of the hotel "Kapetanios", Mauritius Mavroudis, talks about a situation that has gone beyond all limits. "From the beginning of the avenue to the end of it, there is a second Mykonos, so serious is the problem. The owners of beer houses and clubs feel confused about who will implement the legislation and are doing what they want. Some singers go out into the street, stop cars and dance. The situation is uncontrollable. Customers make vehement complaints. Some are asking for compensation, some want to move to the other side of the hotel, and some are leaving and looking for hotels in a quieter area. Our indignation is enormous."
As Mr. Mavroudis mentions, complaints are constantly being made to the Police. "They tell you to go and make a written complaint to go to Court and if and when it is tried in a few years, to solve the problem. We are also waiting for the City Hall to hire staff and buy decibel meters. But when the tourists leave the hotels and we and the bars close, then it will be too late."
"The whole building vibrates"
A similar situation at the hotel "Vangelis", the manager of which, Panicos Komodromos, complained that after the repeated complaints from customers, they made measurements in the rooms that recorded a sound of up to 85 decibels. It is noted that according to the decree issued on July 1, "in parts of areas of recreation centres bordering a residential area and / or with sensitive receivers, the maximum permissible limit of sound emission outside the centre cannot exceed 70Db".
According to Mr. Komodromos, so strong is the intensity of the music that "a building vibrates, at a distance of fifty metres. Customers say, "we have paid a lot of money to come, to tolerate this situation." Our own hotel, which gets very high ratings on platforms, constantly gets aces, when we have an uproar, which is the worst score. I will tell you directly, Protaras becomes like Ayia Napa."
Hundreds of complaints are also received by the "Sunrise Beach" and "Sunrise Pearl" hotels. The hotel manager, Panagiotis Triantaphyllides, indicates that the situation this year is unbearable. "We have more than 400 rooms in the two hotels and we are hosting 1,200-1,300 high-quality, paying guests. Customers claim compensation, but the financial part is the least. What is more important is that these customers do not want to come back to Protaras and Cyprus. Also there are bad reviews on the platforms, affecting others as well. We are hotels with very high service, which are tarnished by such reviews. We don't want Protaras to be a cemetery, but we want the tones of music to drop after 12 o'clock. It is tragic that after two years of deep crisis in tourism we are talking about the obvious, such as sleep, which is the most basic need for customers".
For his part, Pavel Crut, director of "Capo Bay Hotel", says that they receive daily complaints from customers staying in the 80 rooms of the hotel, the balcony of which is on the side of the pedestrian street. "The music is outrageous. Customers are asking for either their money back, or to move them to other rooms, which we can't do right now because we're full."
PASYXE has been informed of the allegations and as indicated by its president Philokypros Rousounidis, a way must be found so that hotels and recreation centres can coexist, without affecting each other.
They don't have a license to broadcast audio
The most outrageous thing is that many of the bars that cause noise pollution do not even have a sound broadcasting license, which is issued by the Municipality of Paralimni, which is the competent Authority to carry out the checks. This is because they do not meet the conditions set by the legislation, which provides, among other things, for the securing of a building permit for the granting of an audio broadcasting permit. This is where the problems begin, since without a sound broadcasting permit, the Municipality cannot carry out checks.
Admitting that there is indeed a big problem with noise pollution in Protaras, the deputy mayor of Paralimni, Avraam Moulazimis, told "F" that changes may have to be made to the legislation in order for the Municipality to be able to issue audio broadcasting licenses. He also indicated that "the City Council must meet immediately to find a solution, because the issue is serious".
The hands of the Police are also tied, since under the new legislation, it cannot intervene ex officio and confiscate loudspeakers. "The local authorities are responsible and we cannot proceed with a complaint. However, we proceed to complaints to premises that do not have a license to broadcast audio, but the extrajudicial document is €85", indicated the spokesman of the Police, Christos Andreou. Also, the Police, on the basis of other legislation on nuisance, may, following a complaint, bring the offenders before the Courts. However, it is time-consuming to hear these cases.
The President the Pancyprian Association of Owners of Recreation Centers (PASIKA), Phanos Leventis, attributes the situation to the non-issuance of audio broadcasting licenses, and calls on the local authorities to speed up the procedures. "Since a permit is not issued, it means that a space emits sound uncontrollably. Our goal is not to cause nuisance by anyone and we believe that the solution is somewhere in the middle. It is with goodwill that the law can work."
BEHIND THE LINES
We take our eyes off ourselves
In another European country, leisure centres without a sound broadcasting permit, and in particular without a building permit, would not even operate. In ours, however, everyone does what they want.
Responsibility for this mess created by the legislation also lies with the Parliament, before which the adoption of the regulations for its implementation is still pending.
As the chairman of the Interior Committee, Aristos Damianou, told us, the views of the stakeholders are completely different on the issue and an effort is being made by the Deputy Ministry of Tourism to find convergences. "As it stands, the text is problematic and everyone knows it. At the same time, the existing law on noise pollution is deliberately not applied", suggested Mr. Damianou.
In the meantime, while the competent services hide behind the problematic legislation, tourism in Protaras and other areas is being destroyed. Well done...
