Pafos Live 30 March 2024
A 33-year-old man from Limassol was detained for four days as part of an investigation into the theft of cables of the Electricity Authority from an area in the village of Kantou.
According to an EAC technician, 1400 metres of overhead copper cables, worth €2,800, were stolen.
According to the complaint, six poles of the Authority were cut off during the theft of the cables, resulting in damage amounting to €4,150.
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Filenews
The Famagusta District Court in Paralimni acquitted and acquitted a 44-year-old Greek Cypriot woman of a fatal road accident involving a 29-year-old cyclist from India.
Through its lawyers, the victim's family, as mentioned in a statement, asked the Attorney General, George Savvidis, to file an appeal against the decision of the Famagusta District Court or a retrial of the case.
The fatal road accident occurred on January 24, 2022 on the Liopetriou-Sotira road. The unfortunate cyclist, Parvinder Singh, who was a student at a local college, died instantly when he was swept away by the defendant's vehicle. According to the family's statement, "according to the testimony submitted to the Court, the defendant's vehicle stopped at a considerable distance from the collision site with no signs of braking."
The defendant was acquitted after the Court did not accept the entire testimony she had before it.
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Members of the Limassol Police Authority arrested a wanted burglar today, after being notified that he had entered a residence to steal.
According to the Police, around 17:00 in the afternoon today, a resident of a house in the area of Agios Ioannis noticed an unknown person inside his house and immediately called for help and informed the Police.
The man was identified by the residents as a wanted person from a photo posted by the police and then they chased him.
Immediately patrols of the Limassol Police Department arrived in the area and at the suggestion of the citizens, the 23-year-old wanted man was located in the courtyard of a nearby residence.
Members of the force handcuffed the young wanted man after three outstanding arrest warrants for burglary and theft of property.
It should be noted that from the house that the 23-year-old entered, a watch was stolen and was found. During a body search, a small quantity of drugs (crystal meth) was found in the suspect's possession.
The 23-year-old was taken to the offices of the ICF of Limassol for questioning while tomorrow he is expected to be brought before the Limassol District Court for a request for his detention. It should be noted that the 23-year-old was wanted for three burglaries and thefts committed in recent months in Limassol.
Residents of the area after today's incident, contacted Philenews, stating that they do not feel safe. As they point out, burglaries and thefts in their neighbourhood are frequent, while dozens of foreigners live in some residences.
The residents who are indignant also take issue with the Police Authorities since, as they say, they make daily complaints without anything being done.
For its part, the Police reject the residents' complaints about inaction. As we were told, the Police have issued three arrest warrants against the 23-year-old for burglary cases, while it was pointed out to us that this person was brought to justice in the previous period, but the Court released him.
In addition to the above, we were told that the area is patrolled on a daily basis by members of the Force.
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A coordinated operation was carried out by members of the Pafos Crime Prevention Unit on Friday evening, in the context of which seven owners of leisure centres were reported.
According to police, the seven leisure centers were allegedly spotted broadcasting music without the necessary permission.
The operation by members of the Paphos Crime Prevention Unit was carried out in the tourist area of Paphos.
For the owners of the seven entertainment centres complained of, a case will be registered before the Pafos District Court.
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The Famagusta District Office of the Department of Town Planning and Housing has issued an ultimatum to the Metropolis of Constantia and Famagusta to lift all illegal interventions and construction works, which concern the construction of a monastery in the protected area of Cape Greco. Furthermore, the Department of Environment in a letter yesterday to Metropolitan Basil of Constance requires the submission of a demolition and restoration plan for evaluation by next Wednesday.
With the enforcement notice, dated 28/3/2024, the Planning Authority (Famagusta District Officer of the Department of Town Planning and Housing) has found, after being informed by the Department of Environment, that illegal interventions and construction works are being carried out on a piece of ecclesiastical land, which are related to the application for planning permission in derogation of the provisions of the Ayia Napa Policy Statement, which was submitted on 20/3/2024 and concerns the construction of the monastery of Saint Ephraim and Saint Catherine.
This application was submitted on 20/3/2024, three days after the submission of a relevant complaint, accompanied by an environmental study. The proposed development is located on a plot that falls within the protected areas of the Natura 2000 Network Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area Cape Greco. This plot is also enclosed within the Ayia Napa State Forest and Cape Greco National Forest Park.
In addition, based on the Development Idea of the current Ayia Napa Policy Statement, which was published in 2015 and approved in 2017, it is located in an area designated as Forest Area, while at the same time the defined land use concerns the Coast and the Nature Protection Area (PF), while the area falls within an Urban Protection Zone (DA1).
Based on the above findings and because the development is carried out without obtaining the required planning and building permit and because the Planning Authority considers it appropriate in the interest of the appropriate urban planning regulation of the area to immediately terminate the works and remove all illegal interventions and constructions within 15 days.
According to the provisions of Article 48 of the Town and Country Planning Law, if all illegalities are not removed within the time limit set, the Planning Authority will proceed with taking judicial measures.
It is noted that, according to the legislation, the Metropolis of Constantia and Famagusta is given the opportunity to file a hierarchical appeal to the Minister of Interior against the enforcement notice. It is emphasized, however, that even if a hierarchical appeal is filed, the part of the notice concerning the requirement to terminate any building or other works remains in force.
Therefore, following this development, the environmental study accompanying the application for planning permission by way of derogation can neither be forwarded by the Department of Town Planning and Housing, nor examined by the Department of Environment and the competent scientific committees (Ad-hoc Committee for the Special Ecological Assessment and Committee for Environmental Impact Assessment of Projects).
The Environmental Authority in the letter dated 29/3/2024 to the Metropolitan of Constance on the lifting of illegal interventions and construction of arbitrary interventions within the Natura 2000 SAC and "Cape Greco" Natura 2000 Network area, informs him that "following the relevant enforcement notice pursuant to article 46 sent to you on 28/03/2024 by the Famagusta District Office of the Department of Town Planning and Housing and specifically in view of paragraph 2(b), an immediate demolition plan and restoration plan must be submitted to the Department of Environment for evaluation before any of your actions. It is noted that the deadline for the submission of the demolition plan is Wednesday 3/4/2024, while the restoration plan may be submitted thereafter, within a reasonable time".
