People of Mazotos protest against desalination plant installation

A protest was held on Saturday in Mazotos by local residents against plans to install a mobile desalination plant in the area.

Mazotos community leader Georgios Demetriou Paphitis said he has in his possession an independent study which recommends against a desalination plant in the area due to its protected habitats.

Protesters carried banners with slogans including: ‘We demand environmental protection’; ‘Without studies, without consultation, no to the dictatorship and amateurism of the government, are we third-class citizens?’

Paphitis acknowledged the area’s severe water scarcity but protested what he called the state’s “hasty and arbitrary decisions” on the desalination project.

For this reason, the Mazotos Community Council demands “the immediate revocation or suspension of the decision, the preparation of a complete and independent environmental impact study, a documented assessment of alternative solutions and locations, and information on compliance with the procedures provided for by national and European legislation,” as well as the protection of habitats such as the Posidonia Oceanica meadows.

“We are requesting all of this because we heard that they are trying to bypass environmental studies and the urban planning authority,” he said.

Paphitis also announced a public meeting for next Saturday at the community council which will be attended by the interior and agriculture ministers, urging the public to attend for updates.

He added that on January 19, the council sent a letter to the agriculture minister seeking answers to key questions.

Although he received a response from the ministry’s general director, he said it did not actually address the letter. As a result, he will ask the minister directly to present the environmental studies during her presence in Mazotos.