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This is not part of the Cyprus campaign - but almost all who have visited Cyprus will know of the Salt Lakes and surroundings near Larnaca airport and their importance for migrant birds. Not only the flamingos - there is a regular Stone Curlew roost site - sometimes up to 60 birds!
We suspect that there's no smoke without fire - sadly. Minister rubbishes Salt Lake hotel complex report
By Jennie Matthew
THE GOVERNMENT yesterday dismissed media reports claiming land next to the environmentally protected Larnaca Salt Lake would be developed into a hotel and sports complex.
A top official claimed that green activists in the civil service anxious to smear the Public Works Department had leaked the erroneous information to _Politis_ newspaper.
A report carried in the paper yesterday alleged that the Council of Ministers had discussed the possibility of erecting a hotel complex and a 2000-seat basketball stadium on unused ground bordering the lake.
But Minister of Communications and Public Works Averoff Neophytou said the only site under consideration for commercial exploitation was currently occupied by Larnaca Airport.
The airport is to be relocated several kilometres to the west as part of a multi-million pound refurbishment plan under a Build Operate Transfer project.
"There's no question of building on the lake or creating any problems for the environment. No one is more sensitive to the environment than the Department of Public Works, We thought it would be good to use the existing premises for commercial use," he told the _Cyprus Mail_.
Senior civil servants at the Ministry also said there was no truth in the _Politis_ claims.
"I've never heard of it and I don't think they would ever allow development in these areas," said Lefteris Stylianides, project manager for the airport.
But the Green Party was nonetheless convinced that the proposal was on the cards.
"We've tabled it for discussion at next week's environment committee. We'll do our best to stop it and I think we have the authority because they'll have to come back to Parliament for its approval," said party leader and deputy Giorgos Perdikis.
"We're against any plans for the protected area of the lake and any project in its neighbourhood," he said.
Perdikis voted against the bill to modernise the airport on the grounds of possible environmental damage caused by increased air traffic.
"I don't know if Larnaca needs another hotel or sports stadium but the solution doesn't lie in the Larnaca Salt Lake," he added.
Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002
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