MEET THE MUKHTAR: BAY RESIDENTS
MEET THE MUKHTAR – BAY RESIDENTS
Pissouri Bay – “The Jewel in the Crown”
Friday 28th May 2010
Detailed notes
Beach maintenance.
This is something the Village takes seriously and in which they invest a great deal of money and effort. Because you cannot dictate to the sea how you want things done, shingle is not removed from the beach (this would simply contribute to beach erosion), it is buried, and the sand replaced on top. Particular care is taken with cleanliness of the Beach area. One Council employee is solely dedicated to keeping the central Bay area roads clean.
There is, however, clearly a problem keeping up with the vandalism of the showers on the beach, which are an essential amenity. This is under active consideration.
Bay Frontage:
Work on a project to upgrade the Bay frontage is being finalised. The programme has been approved and is now the subject of an environmental study without which nothing will be done. The Mukhtar has been to meetings on the matter in Nicosia. The final step will be for the Beach Engineer to report on how far the beach front can be either pulled back or extended in order to establish the limits of the new restoration of the beach front.
As an aside, the Mukhtar explained the complications of negotiations between the Village and the Government on the subject of funding of the project: in his view the Beach is Government property and they should pay: local residents’ taxes should not go towards this. The Government is saying the Village should contribute and the Mukhtar is holding his ground over the proportion. A resolution has yet to be reached. The Village Liaison Officer (VLO) reminded the audience that the Mukhtar has an impressive record of winning funding for Village projects!
Financing the Bay.
Minor problems caused by service installations (electricity, telephone etc) were supposed to be reinstated by the service companies. These companies pay a sum to the District Office in lieu of this restoration work. At the end of the year the work is checked to see what needs to be done. Sometimes the Village repairs the damage and the District Office covers the cost of the work. The Council is not happy if these funds are not reimbursed as they should be, as the companies responsible are supposed to foot the bill.
On the wider picture, the Mukhtar explained that while the focus of the Village works had recently been on the central Village area, these projects were reaching conclusion and the focus would now be shifted to the Bay area. The audience were clearly relieved to know that they were not poor cousins of the Village as they had suspected they might be. In fact the Village does not differentiate between areas, it plans projects by looking at the whole picture.
The Mukhtar said that the total revenue currently received by the Village is €1.5 million p.a. In recent years, the bulk of this had been devoted to projects in and around the Village centre. Most of these were now nearing completing and it was now firmly intend that there should be a shift in the balance of expenditure towards the Bay area. This could reach 90% in a year, but that could not be given as a firm promise because the total itself could change, other sources of funds might be reduced in the current economic climate and unexpected contingencies could arise.
Water.
There have been problems in the past, and the Mukhtar is delighted with the completion of the new 500 ton reservoir adjacent to the first one in the Mersinouthia area which have been built to provide a secure supply of drinking water for the Bay area. Should there be a major problem, these tanks guarantee 3 days’ supplies before running out of water. Pissouri Image residents, because they are higher than most of the Bay area, were always first to know when there was a problem: hopefully, this problem has now been solved.
Fishing Refuge.
This is, as previously reported, to be constructed at the far eastern end of the beach, beyond Black Rocks. It will be designed not to conflict in any way with the Beach area. The Refuge will facilitate the agrotourism sector which is now an important part of the Cyprus tourism product. It will provide 150 fishing berths and 150 pleasure boat berths, and it will be an essential amenity for both fishermen (there are 15 professional fishermen in the area) etc. It will provide an essential safe haven on the long stretch of sea between Limassol and Paphos. Access will be by a road which accesses Ambelones at Hylatio, and the necessary compulsory purchase orders are being completed. The Government is determined to see this project through, so there is every likelihood that it will go ahead, in spite of possible objections.
In reply to a question about why the project was necessary, the Mukhtar added that not only is it important for the reasons given above, but it will be important for Pissouri and provide investment and jobs for the area. It is the only possible location on this stretch of coastline, and it will serve not just Pissouri, but the whole of Cyprus. Funding sources are being investigated.
Before the project was agreed, environmental studies were carried out and there would have been no possibility of going ahead without reassurances about the environmental impact on the Bay. Indeed, the studies were carried out over a six year period. The Mukhtar’s observations from his own researches seem to indicate that these projects help accumulate sand on either side of the marinas that have been built.
Anyone who is interested can see the plans in the Village Office.
Pissouri Image.
The Mukhtar acknowledged that there have been problems here since the project started. First of all there is no officially-registered road leading to the Image. The present 25th March road is a pedestrian way, not registered for vehicles. The correct access should be from opposite the Vineleaf Restaurant. The Village has completed and paid for the compulsory purchase of the land needed for this road. Part of the access, however, belongs to the Church and the Mukhtar will be visiting the Archbishop to request the registration of the Street... which will mean Pissouri Image residents will be entitled to get their title deeds (assuming all other requirements are met).
A resident asked if the Mukhtar could please inform us of the outcome of the meeting with the Archbishop next week. The Mukhtar said that he “wanted to get to the root of the problem that is called Image”!
Beach Walkway Lighting.
There was a complaint about the lights on the beach walkway not being repaired, and the Mukhtar explained the long and very frustrating history of the failure of this lighting. The problem is that the lights were repeatedly vandalised, costing the Village thousands of pounds, and the decision was taken no longer to repair them. A new lighting plan will be part of the next phase of upgrading the beach area. Without actually catching the culprits in the act, it was not possible to say who was responsible, but the Mukhtar is clear that it is not only the school children on visits who deliberately break the lights.
It was thought that these ground level lights could have been responsible for disorientating hatching turtles, and that something should be done to protect the beach from light pollution for this reason. No doubt the environmental people will have this in mind in the coming upgrade of the beach.
School Excursions.
There is a national scheme to introduce all school children to their own country, and this is enshrined in legislation. These are supposed to be educational excursions, but it is clear that they are nothing more than a day off for school children and teachers alike. The result is that there are sometimes hundreds of children bussed to Pissouri at the same time, with no organised educational benefit. They children do not swim – they simply mill around, unsupervised. The result for residents and businesses is catastrophic. This has been going on for years, and the cost of repairing the damage done by the youngsters is horrendous. While the legislation insists on these “educational” visits, it makes no provision for recompense for the damage done.
Residents were not against the children or the visits per se and made many positive suggestions for how the visits could be improved:
• The Ministry of Education should be asked to provide lists of which schools were sending children to Pissouri on which days
• The Ministry of Education should be asked to make the school responsible foot the bill for damage done.
• The Mukhtar could write to the Heads of visiting schools requesting that teachers with the visits should actually supervise the children
• There should always be a Village Policeman visibly on patrol in the area when there is a school visit. This would be a useful deterrent to misbehaviour, even if the Police have little power to act.
• There is nothing for the children to do when they get here. An offer was made to help with liaising with schools to provide a positive educational experience for visiting children, organising visits to the Oleastro Mill, or learning about Turtlewatch, etc.
• The visits could be used for the benefit of the area, for example by doing beach clean-ups
• Local shops could be asked not to sell glass drinks bottles to visiting school children.
The Mukhtar has in the past written to the Ministry of Education and had two schools banned from visiting Pissouri because of unacceptable behaviour. He has also requested a greater Police presence in Pissouri. Residents said they never see a Policeman down in the Bay.
He agreed with all the above ....BUT. There is no impetus from the teachers themselves. He will try to instigate some of the proposals, and write to the schools and point out the difficulties and problems we are experiencing and make a positive offer of help to the teachers.
Bus service.
In response to a question about the lack of a bus service, the Mukhtar explained that this was a subject on which he was very keen and into which he had already put a lot of work, but although he had been pushing for the provision of a mini-bus service for years, he had met with no support from the Village Council. However, he did not intend to give up, and it was pointed out that there is at present a petition for the creation of a bus service. It was observed that the lack of a bus service is a real difficulty, and that the cost of getting to and from the Village from the Bay by taxi was ludicrously exorbitant. In the meantime please sign the petition!
Ambelones (the main Beach Road).
This is a District road, not a Village road, and there is a failure of control of this road which causes problems. The Village Office does its best to maintain it, but does not wish to spend Council taxes on a road that Limassol should be paying for. (In particular one resident asked if the speed limit sign, which is languishing in a ditch, could be re-erected, and the Mukhtar agreed to follow this up).
The historic “Dang” between the Castro Restaurant and the Old Stone House.
While the Mavrikios “Dang” belonged to the Council and had already been restored, the Dang (water cistern) at the Bay had been on private land. However, only very recently, the Bay Dang had been acquired by the Village and it will now be restored and the area around it landscaped.
Fire Station.
The Mukhtar explained that this project (the responsibility of Central Government) could not proceed without the appointment of permanent officers to man the proposed station (by the packing station on Ambelones), and in the current economic climate this is unlikely. It was clear that residents are rightly worried about the lack of any nearby response capability.