Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Esref Unlusoyer said yesterday that construction work around Tatlisu beach had been stopped because the necessary permits had not been obtained.
The Kaplica Hotel resort had been doing some work on the beach in front of the hotel. However the EPA said that this was a protected zone and an important turtle nesting ground.
Employees of the EPA had been sent to the area following public complaints. There they found that a number of walls were being built on the beach as well as quantities of cement, bricks and a bulldozer.
They ordered that all the works be dismantled and all the building materials be removed.
The hotel has been given until Monday to conform, or else it will be charged a heavy penalty.
In addition the hotel was told that it could not hold its annual Sundance Reggae Festival on the beach. This was due to start on August 1st but again no permits had been applied for.
Kaplica Hotel resort owner Ahmet Genc said that they had built 3 walls of 30 meters on the beach to separate sand from nearby soil. He did confess that these had been built without permission and would now be demolished. He also confessed that permits to hold the Sundance Reggae festival on the beach had not been applied for but said that they would be doing so. He pointed out that this festival attracted large numbers of people from South Cyprus and overseas and was good for tourism.
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