It comes as no surprise that Municipal Councillor Antonis Trakkidis continues to disparage the Municipality of Geroskipou through unfounded reports in the media, as this has proven to be his standard practice in recent years in order to serve his own personal interests.

Nevertheless, we wish once again to present the actual facts regarding the cleaning and removal of seaweed from the beach of the Municipality of Geroskipou, and to categorically refute Mr Trakkidis’s claims of “scandals”.

The foremost priority of the Municipality of Geroskipou remains the further upgrading of our Municipal beach, so that it becomes one of the finest beaches in Cyprus and, in particular, in our town, where residents and every visitor to the area, whether local or foreign, can enjoy quality services in a suitably developed and, above all, aesthetically attractive and clean environment. To this end, and among other activities, it cleans and removes the seaweed from the beach on an annual basis.

For the cleaning of the beach for the years 2019 and 2020, a tender was issued covering the loading, transport and disposal of the seaweed, for a duration of two years. Under the terms of the tender, the seaweed was to be deposited at the landfill, which is what happened in 2019. In 2020, however, the landfill informed all local authorities in Paphos that it had no space for depositing seaweed and that they would therefore have to find another location. Mr Trakkidis craftily claims that, instead of depositing the seaweed at the landfill, the Municipality is depositing it in Acheleia, even though he is aware that this was not a choice made by the Municipality. Criticism is legitimate, but misinformation is not.

To resolve the matter, the Mayor of Geroskipou held several meetings with the President of the landfill and Mayor of Paphos, Phedon Phedonos. The tourist season was approaching and our beaches had to be cleaned and made presentable. The Mayor promptly sent a letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment requesting a meeting to discuss the matter, which took place on 25/02/2020 at the Ministry, in the presence of the responsible Minister and officers from all of the Ministry’s departments. The Municipality’s request for the temporary deposit of the seaweed at a specific horse-breeding site so that it could dry out was met with a favourable response. Following an on-site inspection of three locations that were indicated to him, an officer of the Department of the Environment granted approval for the proposed site in the community of Acheleia. The Municipality of Geroskipou operates within the framework of legality and good administration, and not as Mr Trakkidis craftily attempts to portray it.

The Municipal Council was kept fully informed of all the procedures, as well as of everything relating to the matter, despite the fact that today Mr Trakkidis, evidently for his own reasons, pretends to remember nothing and misleads the public. With regard to the matter of the tender price, at its last session the Municipal Council was informed by the Municipal Engineer of the reduction in the price per load, owing to the shorter distance to the deposit site compared with the distance to the landfill, which was duly applied. Furthermore, owing to the lack of deposit space, a large volume of seaweed has remained on the beach, and the Municipal Council has been informed of this. The minutes of the Municipal Council are available at any time and confirm the truth of these statements.

Mr Trakkidis cannot be granted the mitigating excuse of not having been informed, as a member of the Municipal Council he is fully aware of this particular matter. Yet once again, he has chosen to follow the path of misinforming the residents.

When the seaweed was placed at the approved site, some quantities ended up in an adjacent area which, as Mr Trakkidis claims, is a park. However, this is an area which, although it did once function as a park, has for years now been left abandoned, with wild vegetation and dead trees. The truth of this is also confirmed by journalists who visited the site. Although the Municipality acted immediately and removed the seaweed from the aforementioned area, Mr Trakkidis, for his own reasons, continues to lodge complaints and to disparage his own Municipality. We also find it questionable that, although he was aware that the seaweed which was already present in the area next to the inauguration plaque had been placed there by another Local Authority and not by our Municipality, to this day he has made no statement to set the record straight.

Among the foremost priorities of the Municipal Council has been, and remains, the upgrading of the coastal area of our Municipality, something which is now taking concrete shape but which, unfortunately, some are seeking to find reasons to challenge and to draw attention to themselves.

These are difficult and demanding times, and our ultimate goal must be the provision of high-quality services to our residents. Once again, we call on Mr Trakkidis to cooperate with all the members of the Municipal Council in support of our efforts to upgrade our area, and to put an end to petty politics and pre-election manoeuvring. As for the comments about our Municipality’s website and the characterisations of it as “tabloid press”, Mr Trakkidis, as a member of the Municipal Council, ought by now to be familiar with the Municipalities Law and, specifically, with the fact that the Mayor, as the Executive Authority of the Municipality, represents the Municipality.

Michalis Pavlides,

Mayor of Geroskipou