The Mayor of Ayia Napa, Giannis Karousos, appealed to the authorities to suspend the implementation of the Law on the issue of noise pollution and a relevant amendment of the penal code for offenders, speaking to Active and the show "Morning Frequency", regarding the noise pollution that is observed, after the amendment of the law.
"We have become resilient as a state, as we can not control noise pollution. "The law that has been passed has so many problems and loopholes, a fact that leads to a state of lawlessness," said Mr. Karousos. "They have turned leisure centers into outdoor clubs and I am not referring only to Ayia Napa but also to Agios Antonios in Paphos, Saripolou Square in Limassol, Old Nicosia, Protaras."
Mr. Karousos even described a specific incident, where a citizen sent him a video, in which an incident of noise pollution is recorded, at 3:30 in the morning and which demonstrates the great noise pollution that occurs in the area. According to him, the citizen called the Police, who informed him that they are not responsible for the noise pollution but for the harassment, where in order to intervene the citizen needs to make a complaint, a fact that brings out of court 85 euros. The mayor explained that before the legislation was changed, the Police could intervene, giving a 15-minute warning, removing loudspeakers in nightclubs, etc.
"The solution is simple: The law that has been implemented and the penal code must be suspended, so that we can go to the previous regime so that the Police can intervene," said Mr. Karousos. He explained that the Ministry of Interior has already taken action to suspend the law, but the Ministry of Justice, which must amend the penal code, has objections because it believes that the Police should deal with organized crime and more "serious" cases.
He added that for the implementation of the existing law, a relevant study was needed to be completed by the Department of Environment, which was completed, but as the researcher stated this year, no matter what we do, the law cannot be implemented. "The fact that every establishment needs to buy 10 thousand euros of equipment in order to be able to implement what the law says, becomes a deterrent," he noted.
He finally warned that "this year we will have a bad tourist season and noise pollution will be the reason". "In Ayia Napa and Protaras you can not sleep because of the noise," he said. "As he noted, we have a significant drop in tourist arrivals from Russia, for example the largest travel agent records a drop of 50 percent." This is due to the fact that Turkey and Egypt have risen again as tourist destinations with large subsidies to travel agents and better prices, while we have not yet solved problems that affect tourism.
Source: Liberal
