Filenews 10 February 2026
Solutions to securitization issues and intervention by the Ministries of Justice and Agriculture to end illegal dumps of construction waste in the area of Mouttagiaka were requested by the members of the Parliamentary Committee on Refugees, during today's session on the problems faced by this community.
In his statements after the end of the discussion, the Chairman of the Committee, AKEL MP, Nikos Kettiros, said that this community faces many issues, the first being that of securitizations.
"There are various phases where the securitization has not progressed, the g', e' and i' phases, as reported to us by the Land Registry. The representative of the Land Registry has told us that the securitization is at an advanced stage at the moment. The units that will receive a lease certificate, i.e. the units built on Turkish Cypriot land, will proceed immediately after the securitization," he said.
"These issues of securitizations are issues that concern many settlements in Cyprus. There are also issues about plots that interfere with each other, because the suggestions that were made at the time with the signs for people to build were not based on the plans of the Land Registry. That is why, as the Department of Urban Planning informed us, a meeting has been held in the past with all the competent services and a specific procedure has been agreed, so that these plots can also proceed. Similar cases with Mouttagiaka exist in Polemidia and Dromolaxia", he added.
Another important problem that exists in Mouttagiaka, according to Mr. Kettiros, is the issue of illegal dumping of construction waste in an area just above the refugee settlement.
"It is not only the nuisance that is caused, the problem of illegality by non-licensed persons is intense. It is what we referred to in the Plenary last week and according to the Department of Environment there is also an issue of changing the morphology of the soil. It was specifically mentioned by the Deputy Mayor that if there is a rain in this rubble that is above the settlement then the mud will cover the settlement of Mouttagiaka", he noted.
"The Department of the Environment, according to its provincial representative who was called today in Parliament, does not intervene because those who make the discharges are people whom they are afraid to report, they have been intimidated, that is, the officials of the Department of Environment, and despite the fact that the Police are called every time to intervene to deal with the situation, the Police are slow to come to the area and they cannot proceed with complaints," he said, adding that the Police were not present at today's session, but will be invited to a next session to give answers.
"And don't think that the problem is not so big or a truck goes some days and throws some rubble. The Deputy Mayor of Mouttagiaka told us that in one day he counted 10 times for trucks to come and go within an hour, the representative of the Department of Environment has said similarly. Therefore, what we are calling on is the Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible, and the Department of Environment to assume their responsibilities. It is good for them to come to the Plenary to seek an increase in fines again, but at the same time what they have to do is their job, to go and report the offenders together with the police. They cannot invoke a lack of staff and let the underworld run rampant, let the police, and the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Environment take their responsibilities," he concluded.
In his statements, DIKO MP, Zacharias Koulias, said that the community authorities informed the committee that what is happening in the area is extremely dangerous, especially if it rains, as all this waste can come down to the residential area and there will be serious consequences.
"But what became clear is that the underworld in Limassol is in charge. We are talking about huge sums and there, instead of the state, the competent Ministry, which is the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, is in charge of the illegals and the underworld, with the result that while they had to deposit waste of 20 centimeters, they deposited waste 200 meters high," he said.
"The responsibility lies exclusively with the Department of Environment, the competent Ministry, but mainly with the other authorities, such as the Police. Therefore, I call on the Minister of Justice, because the criminal actions that are being carried out repeatedly were reported to the Committee today, to give the appropriate instructions and to put every trickster on his bench. What is happening is truly unacceptable, in an area in the heart of Limassol, the state itself has essentially been abolished. That is why I call on the Minister of Justice to take the appropriate measures and I think that he has the way to solve the problem", concluded Mr. Koulias.
