Karşıyaka villagers will organise a protest on Saturday March 25, to demonstrate about about alleged proposals that Lapta municipality will offer Gornos hill, in the Besparmak Mountains, to a private company in order to utilise it for a tourism project, ‘Kibris’ reports.
A lawyer representing the local inhabitants and member of the municipality board, Emre Efendi condemned the fact that this site will be given over for investment to a private company and argued that it is “unreasonable” since the area is a place of natural beauty and will be destroyed.
On the same topic, Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Yeni Duzen’ reports that Efendi told the paper that Gornos Hill will be given to a private company with the aim installing a cable car.
According to the paper, Lapta council has already launched works for the construction of the cable car since the project has been approved already by the departments of the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, the department for the Protection of the Environment and the antiquities department. The project for the construction of the cable car is expected to come onto the agenda of the Council of Ministers very soon, writes the paper.
Director of the Department for the Protection of the Environment Abdullah Aktolgali, has denied the allegations that permissions for the launching the project had been approved. He admitted, however, that the municipality had applied to the environmental assessment committee but pointed out that the committee had not made any any decision yet.
Kibris, Yeni Duzen